Heart of Darkness
by Lunar.Lycanthrope
Summary: The Storm Hawks are on a mission to find the truth behind newly revealed information about Master Cyclonis. Dangers await as they must fly into Cyclonian air space, but the greatest threat comes from their own side. NOW FINISHED! Minor edits being made.
1. Prologue

My first fanfic, please be gentle. I'll keep the OCs to a minimum. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Storm Hawks and all characters attached to said title are property of the fine folks at Nerd Corps Entertainment. Please don't sue me.

Update June, 2011: This and the following chapters that will be updated later are revised editions of the original story. Grammar and spelling have had corrections, hopefully nothing was missed. The content remains the same with slight tweaks to some sentence structure. I will most likely only delete my author notes that I had attached to the story back when I was originally posting it. I hope that this is still a good read for some of my fans that were with me at the beginning, as well as anyone who may be curious about my story but really hated the bad spelling and occasional missing words.

I hope you all enjoy…again!

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Prologue

They were huddled quickly and quietly into the small dark conference room. They had landed only 10 minutes ago, having just rushed to Terra Atmosia receiving a high alert message from the Sky Council. No words were said by the attending guard captain except to follow and stay quiet. They sat around an elongated conference table, in a room with no windows or anything on the walls.

"They could at least give us some lunch while we wait." Said Junko, a loud grumbling erupted from his stomach as if agreeing with him. They had to skip lunch to make it in as quick a time as possible.

The Storm Hawks sat and waited for five minutes in silence when a man entered the room. He was tall, at least 7 feet, slim, and very bald. His uniform was gold and white with pauldrons designed to look like folded wings draped over his shoulders. He carried an air of authority around him that demanded everyone's attention in the room.

"My name is Sky General Stryker." He said. "No doubt you are all wondering why you were summoned here."

"We figured it must be important, given the fact it was a high alert message" sounded the young leader of the team, Aerrow.

"Very." responded the general. "It wasn't my choice to summon you though, the Sky Council, in its sometimes questionable reasoning, decided you were the best people to be made aware of some new information we have only recently come into possession of. Given your numerous experiences and victories with certain individuals."

The young team leaned forward in there seats, eager to hear more. Save, of course, one member who leaned back with a depressed sigh. "Only certain doom can come from this." He said, a slight twinge forming in his left eye.

"I'll get right to the point." Stryker began, "Some time ago, I'm sure you remember, a Sky Knight under orders from The Sky Council, Starling, was infiltrating the ranks of the Cyclonian military and gained access to the main citadel."

"Yeah," Finn interrupted, "She totally helped save me and Junko's bacon when got trapped in her weather what-cheri-do."

"Indeed." Stryker said, only giving Finn a sideways glance that showed his annoyance at being interrupted. "As I was saying, before you had compromised Starling's cover, she had managed to record some highly secret and encrypted information onto a data crystal. Information we have only recently finished decrypting."

"Was it info on her crystal studies?" Asked Piper, hoping for some juicy information on new crystal types and their uses. "Cyclonis is known for her inventive experiments with crystals and being able manipulate them in new unthought-of ways."

"If you all would be so kind as to let me finish, I'll tell you." Stryker was becoming annoyed now. _What the Sky Council sees in these impatient children I'll never understand_. He thought. "Continuing on before there are any more unnecessary questions or comments. The one you all know as Master Cyclonis..."

Everyone's attention was on the tall general now.

"...died 3 years ago."

* * *

And there you have it, my first foray into fanfics.


	2. Say What?

Updated June, 2011

When we last left our young adventurers they had received some startling news about their greatest adversary...

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Say What!

The Storm Hawks stared at the tall general who had just dropped a bombshell on them. The looks on their faces could only be described as disbelief. Only one person spoke after the brief silence.

"Of course! There is only one explanation!" Stork yelled after reaching, what he believed to be, the truth. "On Terra Bargus, a volatile little terra on the far side of Cyclonian territory, there is a nasty parasite known to burrow into victims unfortunate enough to land on the terra. It slowly hollows out the body of the victim in what can only be described as a slow, painful, and maddening experience. Then, when nothing is left inside, it wear's the skin of it's victim in hopes of luring whatever friends it may have had to come land on the terra to secure its next meal."

Now it was the Sky General's turn to be dumbstruck as everyone in the room turned to look at the twitching merb. "But," Stork continued. "it's unheard of for them to wear the skins longer than a week, or to run a giant empire bent conquering The Atmos. All the more reason for us to truly be afraid. Remember, wear thick belts, they enter at the base of the spine."

"Is that a real creature?" Asked Stryker, genuinely concerned about the sanity of the young merb.

"The better question is, do you really want to know?" Aerrow stated.

"Right, moving on then." Stryker said, still trying to clear his head. "While that scenario is indeed disturbing, to say the least, it is not the problem at hand."

"This doesn't make any sense." Piper stated." If Cyclonis died three years ago, who have we been fighting against?"

"I do believe I said not to interrupt." Said Stryker, anger rising into his voice. "Three years ago we sent an assassin to kill Cyclonis. The previous Cyclonis had died and we felt it best to eliminate the heir to the throne while things were in disarray. A week passed with no word from our an unmanned Cyclonian messenger ship crashed into one of our border terras with only one box on board. It contained our assassin, and a note that simply said 'Better luck next time -Cyclonis'. We naturally assumed the mission a failure and sealed all relating documents. It was never spoken of again, until today, and this information shall not leave this room."

"Wait a second!" Aerrow chimed in, anger in his voice. "Cyclonis would have been 11 years old at that time. You sent an assassin to kill a little girl? What kind of strategy is that?"

"Are you saying things are better right now with her alive?" Stryker countered.

"That's not the issue here!" Yelled back an angered Aerrow.

"No it's not. The fact that she IS alive is the issue here!" Said Stryker, banging his fist onto the table with a very loud thud. He was becoming very agitated with the fiery haired youth before him. "Now, if I may continue?" Stryker straightened his uniform while regaining his composure and then signaled to one of the guards in the back of the room. The lights dimmed, and Stryker produced a small crystal from his pocket and placed it into a device on the table. Light flared up from the machine, an image was projected onto the wall behind Stryker. The image was of a plain light blue crystal. "Do any of you know what this is?" Asked Styker, surveying the faces of group in front of him. Only one raised their hand in response. Stryker pointed his finger at her, signaling her to answer.

"It's a Flow Crystal." Piper stated, a bit confused at the sight of it.

"So what's a Flow Crystal, and why is it so special?" Asked Aerrow.

"It's not. They aren't anything special, and they not even rare. There used on ships and terras with low pressure flows to push water through pipes. Very common." Piper stated, "Why is this so important? And what does it have to do with Cyclonis?"

Stryker pulled a remote out of his pocket and pushed the button on it. The image behind changed to show another Flow Crystal behind him, only this one was of a completely different shape than the one before. "This image is from the files Starling managed to extract from the Cyclonian database. These same files also confirm that the assassin we sent in actually had accomplished his mission. He was killed escaping the citadel, by Dark Ace no less."

"If the assassin succeeded in his mission, then how is The Goth Queen still kicking?" asked Finn, he was holding his head now as his was getting a headache from everything being thrown at him and only understanding half.

"None of you have noticed it yet?" Asked Stryker, a smug grin spreading across his face." Take a close look at the crystal again,"

The Storm Hawks all leaned in on the table, squinting their eyes and widening them, trying to see what they were missing. Piper, being the resident crystal expert, began taking in every facet and gleam on the Flow Crystal image.

Her thoughts began to put together the basic facts. _About the size of a fist with odd bulging on the sides, no symmetry, and holes seemed to have been drilled into the sides at different sections, but connect at a central chamber within the crystal. Hmmm, I'd swear it almost looks like..._and then she let a gasp, realization of what the crystal was hit her.

"I see one of you has finally grasped it." Stryker said, impatience once again apparent in his voice. "Piper was it? If you would please inform your fellow teammates before the wallop and the blonde boy have an aneurysm."

"It's a heart." Piper stated, disbelief apparent on her voice.

"Yes, a heart, to replace the one that our assassin had run his blade through." Stryker said, his voice now carrying a grim tone. "She was technically dead for a grand total of one day, two hours, and 34 minutes. According to the files, it was during this time that the Dark Ace 'procured' a crystal expert who was studying crystals for medical uses. The expert was pushed to create this little miracle of modern crystal technology and implant it into a dead Cyclonis. And just like that Cyclonis was brought back into the world. I will NOW take your questions, which I am sure you have plenty of."

The Storm Hawks just stared at him.

It was Finn who broke the silence. "Wait just a sec, I'm still trying to figure this all out. Even with a crystal for a heart, that doesn't explain how she came back to life. I mean, Piper said that type of crystal is common, how can it bring her back to life just by placing it in her chest to replace a heart? I mean, just cause you replace something with something else, doesn't mean everything magically works again, right?"

"Good question, though I am surprised to hear it come from you." Stryker said, with a slight smile.

"Well I am just full of surprises." Finn said, taking Stryker's comment as a compliment.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Finn's right though. It wouldn't be enough to reanimate someone by just replacing it. No one knows what it would take."

"Except Cyclonis." Aerrow chimed in. "Since she is alive, they must know how it's done. Did the files say anything about that?"

"No, unfortunately, the files are only partially complete." Said Stryker, the annoyed tone now returning to his voice. "Starling had to take to file in small bits at a time, leaving us with only a third of the necessary information. Starling's cover was compromised before she could complete this task because she decided to help when… how did you put it?" Stryker asked, looking at Finn with a glare in his eye and a sneer in his voice. "Got stuck in Cyclonis' 'Weather What-cheri-do'."

Finn was trying desperately now to disappear underneath the table. Junko was looking up examining the ceiling very intently, trying to avoid Stryker's glare.

"That aside," continued Stryker "the mystery of her resurrection is not the only issue we are facing."

"How could it be worse?" inquired a slightly agitated Finn.

"Oh there are too many ways for me to count off. I'll show you my list later." Stork said with a slight grin.

"It would appear," Stryker continued, hoping to get along before the merb could let off a few choice examples. He cleared his throat. "It would appear that Cyclonis was not happy to let the crystal inside her stay a common crystal. She has, from what we can tell from the fractured files, been adding improvements since a month after it was implanted. The image we showed you was how the crystal was before it placed into her. From what we can tell, it is no longer a simple Flow Crystal anymore. It would seem that with the crystal in her chest has been modified continuously over the last few years. She can now use her body as a crystal resonator. Possibly explaining her never before seen mastery of crystals. The exact modifications we can't be sure of without more data. But we have a plan to find out exactly how she was resurrected and the exact modifications to her crystal heart."

Stork's ears pricked up and left eye began to twitch. "Here it comes." He said to himself.

"What's coming?" asked Junko sitting next to Stork.

"Wait for it." Stork replied

"Since, in the end, it was partially your actions that prevented us retrieving the information, we would like you to go in and get it by any means necessary." Stryker stated, waiting for response.

"Was that it?" Asked Junko.

"Wait." Stork said, eye twitch now at full speed.

"Of course we will!" Aerrow responded towards Stryker. "Anything to help us defeat Cyclonia and keep The Atmos safe."

Stryker grinned. _Too easy._ Stryker thought.

"And there it is," Stork sighed.

"What?" Junko asked still not getting it.

"Our complete and inevitable," Stork paused to breathe in enough air for the next part. And, with a low tone, he finshed. "Doooooooooom."

* * *

Feel free to comment on this chapter in any way you see fit. I will reply to all reviews or comments posted.


	3. Hidden Objective

Updated June, 2011: Added a little more to Aerrow's night on the town. He was a little left out the first time around. My apologies to the Aerrow fans out there. I hope the added scene makes up for my initial foolishness.

I originally created Stryker as a means to get my fic rolling. But he truly evolved into something more than original intention. Funny how that works.

So, secrets have been revealed, and now The Storm Hawks find themselves on a new mission to go into the center of enemy territory once again to face unknown danger...

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Hidden Objective

The Storm Hawks, following the acceptance of the new mission, were dismissed by Stryker to go and prepare themselves however they needed to before they set out the next day.

Unfortunately, they didn't even have the beginnings of a plan.

...

Aerrow found himself walking alone down a side street thinking about how to handle the mission at hand, coming up with nothing that seemed it would really work. _Well, _Aerrow thought as he stopped walking and sighed, _winging it always seems to work out for us in the end._

As Aerrow was about to move on, a shape emerged from the shadows from the shadows and lunged at him. The glow of crystal energy formed around a weapon that was now advancing towards Aerrow's neck. Aerrow quickly reached over his shoulder and drew one of his blades, igniting his own crystal and bringing the blade around to block the oncoming attack.

"Good reflexes." A familiar sounding voice said, the shadowed figure took a jump back from Aerrow and sheathed her weapon. "Definitely improved from the last time we exchanged blows."

Aerrow could now see the person clearly as she stepped out of the shadows. "Starling!"

"Hello Aerrow." She said with a slight grin as she approached the young Sky Knight. "Heard you were around and I decided to see how you were."

"Most people call or come knocking at the door." Aerrow said as he leaned against a wall, an amused grin forming on his face.

"Now where is the fun in that?" Starling chuckled. Then she let the grin drop from her face, taking on a more serious expression. "I hear your going into Cyclonia again."

"We only just found out ourselves. How did you…" Aerrow said, a look of confusion crossed his face but he quickly shook it off. "Never mind."

"You need to be careful." Starling said, emphasizing the importance of her words.

"We were fine the last time." Aerrow said with a cocky grin.

"You were lucky the last time." She said, her voice serious. "Don't forget I was there to help you."

"So, are you thinking of joining us on our mission then?"

"Can't." She said as she frowned. "You're not the only one who gets called here for dangerous missions. I leave in just a couple hours."

"Where to?" He asked, but Starling only gave him a sharp look in response. "Right, secret mission. Gotcha." An uncomfortable moment of quiet passed between them before Aerrow broke the silence. "So what are you up to until you head out?"

"Not much." She said before adding with a grin. "But I could always do with some practice before heading out on a mission. Care for a couple rounds of sparring? There's a gym we can go to just around the corner."

"I guess I could be your punching bag for a few rounds." He said with a grin and followed her as she led the way to the closet gym.

Starling suddenly stopped mid-stride and turned around to face. "One more thing Aerrow, and this comes from experience." She fixed him with a hard stare. "Be careful with Stryker. He has a bad habit of doing whatever _he_ thinks it will take to complete a mission."

"C'mon, he's a Sky Knight and works directly with The Sky Council. He's on our side." Aerrow said with a grin as he and Starling continued heading for the gym. "And he only gave us the mission, it's not like we're going to be working with him."

"Just be careful."

"Aren't we always?" he said with a grin.

She gave him an annoyed look as they reached the gym, quickly shaking it off as they entered. She was certainly not going to take it easy on him tonight.

...

Finn and Junko went out together to hit the local buffet restaurants, not even giving a moments thought tomorrow's mission.

"Why worry about today something that won't be a problem till tomorrow? Right Junko?" Finn asked, giving his usual grin to his friend.

"I guess, besides things always work out in the end." Junko stated, paying more attention to the food being prepared all around him than to smaller friend.

"Exactly my main wallop! Now onward! Ladies and food of different varieties await us to sample them my dear Junko. Let us be off!" Finn yelled to his friend in his best impression of what he thought was an appropriate battle cry for those nights' activities.

"Just as long as you don't get us kicked out again for singing any karaoke. I hadn't even started my meal yet at the last place." Junko said, hunger on his mind now.

"Oh please, those people have no idea what real singing is, if I had my guitar I would have totally wailed them out of their seats" Finn said walking off with his friend to what was sure to be another restaurant they wouldn't be allowed to come back to.

...

Back on the Condor, night had fallen; Stork was working on calibrating the steering wheel for the fifth time that evening. _Don't need it coming off mid-flight as I'm pulling a hard turn, crashing into my sternum, where I would then suffer breathing pains that would cause me to collapse as we crash slowly into the wastelands. Assuming we don't crash into a mountain from someone, most likely Finn, pulling a lever causing the engines to explode and we all go down in a fiery blaze._ Just a normal night for the merb pilot.

Piper was at her charts, coming up with plans for the best possible infiltration routes. Making intricate plans with a hundred percent success rate, and theorizing on what exactly Cyclonis was truly capable of with a crystal in her chest, what kind of modifications had she made? The possibilities of how this could be applied were racing through her brain. Then she let out a disgruntled sigh, plopping down into her chair.

Stork's ears perked up at this, stopping him in his work on the steering assembly. "I know that sigh." Stork said, putting aside his tools for a moment. "That is the 'why am I working on these carefully laid out plans when they will be ignored or forgotten when it comes to go time' sigh, right?"

"Guilty as charged." Piper said, a little embarrassed at how predictable this kind of thing was. "Sorry if I'm disturbing you."

"Oh I'll probably redo the entire mechanism again anyway before I head back to my room for tonight. And for what it's worth, your plans are good for one thing at least."

"What's that?"

"It's lets me know I'm not the only one who knows how doomed we truly are in this situation." Stork said with a very sincere tone of voice.

Piper just looked at him, knowing he was complimenting her in his own way, but feeling a bit worse because of it. "I think I'll just head to bed for now. Goodnight Stork, make sure everything is locked down after the guys get back."

"Oh I plan to lock everything up tight before I go to bed, whether the others are back or not by then doesn't matter to me. Just so long as The Condor is secure. Goodnight anyway though Piper, make sure to check for Atmosian bed fleas before you turn in, their bites can get very infected overnight." Stork said, twitch in his eye as with every time he thought of returning to his own bed fear a small colony had moved in while his back was turned.

The others returned while Stork was in the middle of reassembling the drive levers. After he was finished he secured The Condor with his usual 5 check routine of every lock on board before heading back to spend a half hour fumigating his room before sleep.

...

Sky General Stryker stood before the Sky Council at the special late night session. "Did you inform them of everything that was deciphered off the data crystal, Sky General Stryker?" The head member of the council asked down at Stryker from their elevated chairs and podiums. "Do they know the dangers they face?"

"I can assure you, members of the council, that I have informed The Storm Hawks of all relevant information." Stryker said, and thought to himself, _they don't need to know all of it, nor do you._ "They leave tomorrow on this mission, they seem confident of their success, at least the leader does anyway."

"Then we are left only to hope for their safe return from an accomplished mission." Said one of the lesser members to the right side of the Head councilor. "If not, we are then left to your contingency plan Stryker."

"I guarantee this most noble council, if The Storm Hawks fail, I shall personally lead the assault on Cyclonia with every ounce of fire power we can muster to stop their plans." The general bowed low, covering the smile spreading across his face. When he stood again the smile was gone replaced by his usual calm appearance. "If you will excuse me, it is late and I do not wish to keep you longer than necessary."

The council members one by one got up and left and Stryker made his way back to his office, personal aide in tow. "Sir, Sky General Striker, sir. A question, if I may?" The aide asked, feeling confused.

Stryker waited till they were safely inside the sound dampening walls of the office before acknowledging his aide." Yes? What is it?" He asked, already knowing the question.

"I'm just curious, sir, to know why you _didn't_ tell The Storm Hawks everything, and why you lied to the council that you did? Sir." The aide asked, afraid he may have asked too much.

"It's quite simple really, but first, what do you think of The Storm Hawks?" Stryker asked, again knowing what the response would be.

"They are courageous and surprisingly skillful for being so young. I doubt there are many who aren't aware of there adventures by now. Sir." The aide replied, wondering why he had been asked such a question.

"That's exactly it. Everyone knows them, and their _deeds_." Stryker said, venom in his voice. "They are practically known by everyone in the Atmos, feared by the Cyclonians, They have fought toe-to-toe with Dark Ace and Cyclonis. The problem is though, when I stepped into that room today, they had no idea who I was. I am a Sky General, all should know me, and I should be leading the charge. Not these punk kids who found a ship and decided to play heroes." Stryker was shouting very loud now, anger apparent by the veins bulging on his bald head." But, soon, thanks to some careful planning, and a small _gift_ I have prepared, I shall remove two annoyances from my sky." The Sky General smirked, and began a low laugh, the aide was now very unsure of what the general meant, but decided it best to leave it be.

"Besides," Stryker continued," If they are truly as great as everyone seems to think they are, then they should be fine." He turned his back on the aide now, facing out his large window watching night cover the terra. His Smile reflecting back at him in the window, as night filled the room with darkness.

...

All was silent on The Condor, everyone sleeping soundly.

_Beep...Beep...Beep..._

* * *

Too much? Too little? I must know, and only you can tell me. Review, it's not just a pretty button the screen, it holds the path to glory..


	4. Ch3 Rude Awakening

I'll start by thanking everyone who has reviewed me to date, your reviews help me in all kinds of ways. Besides that weird warm feeling they give me, wonder if it's heartburn... Any way here we go into the next one. Again, I hope you enjoy reading it as I have imagining it.

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Rude Awakening

There was fire everywhere. No matter how many times he pulled at the controls they wouldn't respond. They had just broken through the cloud cover, all that lay before them now were the endless wastelands. He kept pulling at the controls hoping, by some miracle, they would decide to work again, they still refused. He looked around for his friends, they weren't there. He looked behind him, and there _it_ sat. Menacing in it's silence, he didn't know what it was, just that it was responsible for everything around him. It had no form, just a shapeless dark mass, but it was frightening. It seemed to form a mouth, as if to tell him why this had happened, or to devour him, he couldn't be sure. With it's newly formed mouth, it said only one thing.

"Beep."

...

_BeepBeepBeep...BeepBeepBeep...BeepBeepBeep..._

A green hand reached up from the floor to silence the very loud alarm clock. Stork was awake on the floor of his room, fear slowly spreading over him. He relaxed at the realization that it had all been a dream. No fire, no crashing, no dark floating essence of doom. Just a dream. Then, the horror hit him of how it might a subconscious hint that something was terribly wrong with him. He preceded to search through every corner of his room looking for every medical scanner he had. He began running through a list of common symptoms of a variety of different maladies while looking in the mirror on his wall to see if they were present. This all caused a lot of noise to come out of his room, waking the other Storm Hawks.

Piper was the first at the door, still in her pajamas, she began to knock loudly. "Stork! What's going on in there?" She put her ear to the door, instead of hearing a reply, all she could hear was the young merb mumbling to himself. "Stork?"

"Not right now Piper." Stork finally answered through the door."Can't tell yet if what I have is an airborne virus yet, not safe to come in. Don't worry though, I sealed the door airtight, you guys exposure is most likely minimal at best." He then went back to mumbling to himself, Piper figuring he must be reading from some obscure medical reference for exotic diseases.

Aerrow had arrived now, wearing his uniform minus the amour. _Does he sleep in that thing?_ She wondered to herself, but held back a chuckle. "Stork has sealed his room because he thinks he has some rare virus." She said in a tone that conveyed a sense of familiarity to the situation.

"That time of the week already, huh?" Aerrow asked, letting a smile cross his face.

"Must be." Then turning back to the door."Stork? How long have you had your room sealed?"

"At least ten minutes now. I'm sure the disease has worked it's way through my system by now. No chance of a cure, I'll just stay in here till it's finished the job." Stork said, a sort of calm in his voice, as if he had given in to his doom.

"Don't you think your air will run out first, I mean how much air can your room possibly hold now that you've had it sealed for the last ten minutes?" Piper stated to the door."And don't say you'll use the reserve oxygen supply, because you used it all up last week. And, I know you haven't refilled the tanks yet." A grin of triumph spread across her face."So which is worse Stork? Dying of a disease, that you most likely don't have, out here with us. _Or_, suffocating in your room in the next 5 minutes or so?"

Silence answered her as she stared at the door. Then finally it opened, revealing a very tense Stork with eye twitch in full gear."Fine, you win." He got close to Piper's face as he said the next part."But, realize it's your own fault when whatever it is I have has you all twitching in horrible death spasms."

"Somehow," Aerrow chimed in, looking at the merb with a grin on his face as well."call me crazy, I think we'll live."

"Your crazy." Stork said in a very serious tone before turning and heading for the bridge.

After he was gone, Aerrow looked at Piper."You always know how to handle him."

"Oh please" She said. "He's a pushover, a bit paranoid sure, but as they say 'there's a method to his madness.' It's the rest of you guys that have me at my wits end most of the time."

"Still, I'd say your the only one who he actually listens to when he's in one of his fits of full blown paranoia." Aerrow replied before, he to, headed for the bridge. Before he went through the door, he turned to look at Piper again, another smirk crossing his face. "By the way, nice pjs." He said, pointing at her blue and orange bed clothes. He then turned on his heel and went through the door onto the bridge.

Piper, blushing dark red in embarrassment, rushed back to her room. Rushing past a drowsy Finn and Junko, who had only just woken up and weren't even out of their pajamas yet.

"My joke sense tells me we missed something funny." Finn said looking up at Junko. They both shrugged and headed off in the direction of the kitchen in search of breakfast.

...

After the storm hawks and finished eating breakfast and securing The Condor for launch, they headed out on to the port to wait for Stryker. Just as Aerrow had step off the ship he caught a gleam of sunlight shining off the general's shiny bald head. "Sky General Stryker, sir, the Storm Hawks are all ready to head out." He said as th general came in earshot.

"Good." Stryker replied, looking over them all with a critical eye, then glancing up at The Condor itself."You sure the old thing will get you there in one piece. I feel I need a shot just looking at it" A smug grin now crossing his face.

Stork stood up straight, preparing to _advise_ the general as to how wrong he was and where he could file his opinions. Aerrow shot him a look knowing how the merb would react, Stork backed down, left to stew over his thoughts.

"She's a good ship, she hasn't let us down yet. We will make it there and back before the cyclonians even knew we were there." Aerrow said looking straight at Stryker, confidence was the only emotion he showed.

"We shall see, won't we?" Stryker said, a slightly off putting smile now creeping on his face."With confidence like that, I have no doubt things will exactly according to plan." Then, once again regaining his usual calm face, he continued. "One more thing before you set out. I want you to stay on course with this mission. I have read many reports of how sidtracked you can get. This is your firs priority, understood?"

"Yes, sir." Aerrow replied. "If there's nothing else, sir, we're ready to get under way. And, don't worry, you can expect everything to run smoothly."

"Indeed I do." Stryker replied, then turned around and headed back towards the dock. Out of earshot from the Storm Hawks he added under his breath. "Indeed with that much ego and pride, I expect evrything to exactly as predicted." A small chuckle escaped his mouth as he passed out of sight, through the dock gates.

"That guy is seriously to tense." Finn said once Stryker was gone. "Some one should slip laxatives into his coffee or something to loosen him up a bit."

"Finn, thats gross!" Piper said making a disgusted face.

"And where does he got off taking a shot at The Condor!" Stork said, anger clear in his voice. "She's ten times better than ships they use in the Atmosian Guard." He was now nervously trying to rub a speck off the side of The Condor that didn't seem to want to come off.

"Let it go for now Stork." Aerrow said, still with confidence in his voice."He'll eat his words soon enough. Just like everyone before him who thought we couldn't do it. Remember, we're Storm Hawks, and no one takes that away from us." He said with a grin wide across his face."Now let's head out, next stop, Cyclonia!"

With a quick cheer from everyone, except the Stork who had gone inside to fetch a power sander to remove a pesky spot, everyone filed onto the ship and start take off procedures.

A half hour later, because Stork had insisted on getting that spot out first, the were in the sky make a hard run for Cyclonian territory. Nothing was going to stop them from finding whatever secrets Cyclonis had hidden, and proving how capable they were to Stryker. Nothing.

...

_Beep...Beep...Beep..._

* * *

Whew... Another chapter done. Took a bit longer than I had hoped to put it out. Next one may take a couple days because of work and because I plan to make the next installment even longer(maybe two or three times) Crazy of me, perhaps but I have a bunch of great ideas just flowing out of me the only hard part is just putting them in a good order. Here's to the future. Oh, and a quick public service announcement from Sky General Stryker himself.

"I'll keep it simple." Clears throat."REVIEW OR I'LL BLOW YOU ALL OUT OF THE SKIES!!" Clears throat again."Thank you for your time."

You heard the man.


	5. Ch4 The Good Doctor

Well took a couple days like I thought, it's my longest chapter yet. Enjoy

Disclaimer: Storm Hawks and all characters attached to said title are property of the fine folks at Nerd Corps Entertainment. Please don't sue me. I have only created Stryker and now another OC who you all are free to use just ask first please.

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Heart of Darkness...The Good Doctor

They were a day into their journey now. They still had awhile to go before they entered Cyclonian territory. Stork was, as always, at the helm searching the skies for the trouble he knew would eventually come. Finn and Junko were preparing themselves a small feast in the kitchen while trying to keep the noise down. And, Piper was in her crystal lab reviewing documents, searching for any clues she could find about how Cyclonis was revived after she had been killed. Aerrow knocked on the open door's frame.

"Hey there." Piper said without bringing her eyes up from the papers in front of her.

"What's all this your reading?" Aerrow asked as he stepped inside, coming to a stop on the other side of the table from Piper.

"Their transcripts of the information retrieved off the data crystal. I asked for copies of what they had of any crystal information and anything concerning Cyclonis' miraculous return from death. I'm hoping to find something they missed." She said, a slight tone of frustration in her voice.

"Any luck?" Aerrow asked, but judging from her tone he already figured the answer.

"None. I realized the data would be minimal at best, given that they couldn't get all of it. But, this is beyond fractured, it's like reading a book where all the pages fell out, and try as you might to put it back together, parts will be missing and or completely out of order. It takes a lot of time to get anything even to make since, but with this I don't even know where to start. There are a couple full pages where it describes some of the events after she died, and some about after she was revived, but almost none on the actual process save for the little bit about the Flow crystal." She sat back in her chair now in a huff."It's starting to give me a real headache."

"What about the guy who actually preformed the operation? Anything on him?" Aerrow asked, hoping to help move the investigation along.

"Only his name." Piper replied, reaching for a peice of paper she had set aside. Looking at it she said." A Dr.Heron..."

A yell suddenly came from the bridge. "WHAT!?"

Both Aerrow and Piper jumped at the sudden shout. The next thing they knew they heard the autopilot being engaged and Stork suddenly Stork was standing in the doorway of Piper's lab."Did you say Dr.Heron!?" Storked asked breathing very hard, but not from the fast run from the bridge. His eye twitch was already in full gear.

"Ya." Piper said, confused by Stork sudden panic. "Do you know him? And how did you hear us? Were you eavesdropping?"

"Well the doors were open and you guys voices tend to carry, not to mention my hearing is slightly better than yours."Stork said in a sudden calm. Then immediately went back to panic."And of course I know who Dr. Heron is! I doubt there is a merb my terra who doesn't." Stork was beginning to hyperventilate now.

Piper got a worried look on her face. "Stork calm down, just take deep calming breaths." She waited for Stork to catch his breath."Now, calmly as you can, tell us who he is. I couldn't find any references to him in any of my books on crystal researchers."

"No, you wouldn't, because he doesn't research crystals." Stork's words only caused Piper and Aerrow to give him confused looks. "The truth is he only sees crystals as a means to an end, his real research is into biological studies. He's a merb, but he is completely different from the rest of us. Instead of fearing and working to counteract diseases, he would actively search them out and study them in his lab. He would study their effects on the body, using various experiments to try and change how they worked." Stork was beginning to cower in the corner as he said this.

"Stork? Are you okay?" Piper said getting closer to Stork. Genuine concern for their pilot on her face.

"No, I'm not." Stork said, then suddenly got up and ran to his room. Aerrow and Piper shared a look, wondering if they should go after him. Then suddenly they heard him coming back, he appeared again at the doorway, only this time carrying a large book. "This," He said slamming the book onto the table. "Is a record of some of the Merb races' less than favorable people. There are several chapters on _Dr._Heron." He said with a slight growl in voice. He opened the book to specific page that he had book marked. "This may be what your looking for." He said, now backing up from the book. "Happy reading." He turned around then slunk off to the bridge and once again went back to flying The Condor.

"Well that was unsettling, he seems to have some issues about this doctor." Piper looking at the doorway Stork had just left through. She then began to read the pages laid out before her in the over sized book.

"Flying The Condor always seems to calm him." Aerrow said, concern in his voice. "We can talk to him later after he has had some time to himself." Then redirecting his attention to the book. "Anything useful?"

Piper began to read over some lines with her finger skimming over the page. "It says here he had some theories of the energies naturally generated by the human body. He believed that the energy released from the body when a person died could be replaced much in the same way you can recharge some crystals when they're used up. But he never could get any results because there was no way to properly synthesize the energy type used by the body."

"Sounds pretty creepy, but he obviously figured out a way. Why didn't Stork mention this before, he's obviously familiar with the guy's work." Aerrow asked.

" I think I see why" Piper responded, her finger stopping over a specific article on the page. "It says that his lab was completely destroyed, and he was assumed killed, in a Cyclonian attack..." Piper looked up at Aerrow.

Aerrow already knew what it said. "Three years ago." He said in a serious tone. "It would seem history needs some rewrites. What else does it say in there about him? We're gonna need all the info we can get on him."

Piper turned back to the book and began to flip through some of the pages. "It seems he would conduct experiments on the bodies of merbs who died of various diseases. He was the target of many attacks from outraged merbs who viewed his work as offensive. Some even suspected that he would purposefully infect merbs in order to gain access to more research subjects." Piper looked up from the book. "Aerrow, I get the chills just reading this. This Dr. Heron seems to be nothing but bad news. Who knows what he has been working on since reviving Cyclonis."

"Whatever it is, based on his history, it can't be good." Aerrow said, He then headed for the door. He paused at the doorway and looked back at Piper. "Give him an hour, then go talk to Stork. I have a feeling he's gonna need to vent some feelings that this whole Dr.Heron situation has brought up."

"Why me? Your better at getting everyone in the right mood for any situation." Piper said, she felt she was being assigned an impossible task.

"Because, like I said before, I think your the only one he really listens to when he's like this. Besides in an hour I'm sure he'll be close to fine anyway. I'm off to the kitchen for now to get some lunch, assuming Junko and Finn haven't eaten everything in the fridge already." With that Aerrow left Piper in her lab and headed for the kitchen.

"Great, a merb scientist who has a unusual thing for diseases, a crystal empowered Cyclonis, and nervous and paniced Stork who I have to talk down." Piper said to herself. "I wonder which one is gonna take more effort to deal with."

...

Piper decided it best give it two hours, both for Stork and for herself. She wasn't really sure what to say to him when he was this agitated. She started walking towards the bridge, thinking of exactly how to approach Stork and talk over his obvious past with Dr.Heron. As she entered the bridge, and looked over to Stork at the ship's control, she noticed just how quiet the bridge was. It seemed everyone was giving Stork some alone time.

It was apparent that Stork was not relaxed. His grip on the steering controls was tight enough for even his knuckles to be white. The twitch in his left eye seemed to extended up to his ear, causing his earrings to jingle some when they collided. His eyes were frozen to the horizon, scanning back and forth as if some uncertian danger were sure to spring at any second. Needless to say, flying The Condor for the past two hours had not helped to calm the now very agitated merb.

_Great, _Piper thought to herself, _he's in full Crazy Stork Mode now. _

"Hey Stork..." She started, walking up to the twitching merb.

"I'm not talking about it." He said flatly, in a voice that was not as jumpy as his facial features were. It was a clam serious tone. "I already know Aerrow asked you to talk to me. Good ears remember, you guys should work on closing doors."

Piper was a bit shaken by Stork's sudden refusal. She thought about just ending it there and turning around and walking away. But, looking at Stork's current state of being, she knew that leaving him as he was now wouldn't help anyone.

"Thats fine." She said, idea in her head of just how to deal with this. "To be frank, I wasn't looking forward to talking it out right now anyway. I think I'll just stand here and enjoy the view for a bit." Truth existed there, the view through the bridge's forward window was beautiful right now. Cloud's were everywhere, with the sun's rays bouncing up off them, it looked like a sea of gold was beneath them. "Of course, I know how you sometimes like to talk to yourself when your alone. So, just pretend I'm not here and feel free to chat away." She said giving him a warm smile.

_Crap, _Stork thought to himself, _she's not gonna leave me alone till I say something._ Stork let out a sigh. "Fine. You win, but I don't want to hear anything that sounds like therapy after I'm done. I already know what my mental problems are, it's only the physical ones I worry about." He let a another small sigh, looked at Piper through his twitching left eye, and began his story.

...

It was years ago, Stork wasn't even into his teens, and the only world he knew was his terra. He was eager to get off it, and more than willing to take the first offer that would achieve that goal. He began by apprenticing under a local mechanic who worked on the few carriers that frequented the terra. Business was always slow, so when he wasn't working in the shop he was working on and flying a small freight hauler. It wasn't powerful or reliable enough to even try to take off the terra, but it was good for practicing his piloting.

Still considered to young to be taken on an actual carrier crew, Stork was left with no option but to shuttle visitors and other merbs around the terra on his hauler as a taxi service for extra money. It was while doing this he met Dr.Heron. He had come in on a privately owned vessel and docked at the garage for repairs. When he stepped off his ship, Stork didn't know hat to make of him. Not many merbs owned airships for the simple reason most never left their terras. His appearance was off to, while a bit shorter than most merbs, he made up for this by standing straight up, no hunching at all. He wore a long grey coat that matched the color of his fur, and it had numerous pockets with various devices stuffed into them. His black hair was long and greased back out of his face. He also wore a pair of goggles that kept his eyes shaded.

He approached Stork and inquired as to where he could get transportation to the other side of the terra, he was apparently in a hurry. Stork directed him to his hauler and they were off. Stork made the trip in half the time of what most merb drivers would even dare. Once they arrived at a small dwelling that Dr.Heron had directed him to, the doctor jumped out of the hauler and ran inside. Curious, Stork followed to see what had the doctor in such a rush. Inside, Stork saw something that would haunt his nightmares for a long time.

It was a merb, or was, his body was covered in tumors, some of which leaked a black ooze. Stork felt violently ill and rushed outside to vomit. He stayed outside till the doctor appeared in the doorway, he slowly walked towards Stork. "Not a pleasant sight was it?" Heron asked, looking directly at Stork through his shaded goggles. "It's called Black Growth, very painful, giant growths cover the body, poisoning the blood and causing it to turn black. No real hope of survival once you've caught it." His voice was slow and rhythmic, it sounded like he had said this same thing many times before. "Nothing I could do for the poor man, only try and make his passing peaceful and have meaning."

"How can dying like that have any meaning?" the young Stork asked. Most merbs saw death as an end, an end that could come from one of many sources. They figured they were safe on their own terras where they were familiar with their surroundings, lessening the chances that their end would come to soon.

Dr.Heron looked at Stork then took a small vial out of his coat pocket, it contained a black liquid. "This is his blood, I took it before he died. By studying it I might be able to find ways to treat it or prevent it from occurring in anyone else."

Stork was intrigued, he had never really heard of a merb wanting anything to do with disease except avoid them however possible. "How will you do that?"

"Research and experimentation." Heron replied as if it were the only logical answer. "I need to get back to my ship now, if you please, before this sample goes bad." Before leaving though, he set fire to the dwelling. He looked at Stork. "For containment purposes, no worries, it won't spread beyond the house. Sadly, I have done this before."

Stork got them back to the garage with the same speed as before. "Impressive skills by the way." Heron said as they arrived back at the garage. He got out of the hauler and began to make his back to his ship. He stopped and turned to look back at Stork. "Would you care to see my ship?"

Stork was eager to get a close look at the insides of the ship, it looked to be one of the newer models meant for private use, small but fast and maneuverable. Only one room besides the bridge and engine room. "Sure." He said, still a bit shaken by what he had seen earlier, but that wouldn't stop his love for airships.

Dr.Heron motioned him to follow and they made their way onto the small vessel. They entered onto the bridge, Stork looked all around taking in what he was seeing. It was beautiful to him, it was the first time he had been even near the controls of anything besides his small hauler. He reached out and touched the flight controls, he wanted so bad to take the ship for a spin.

"Before you decide to take us out, perhaps you should finish the repairs first, hmm?" Heron said, coming up to stand beside him.

"How did you damage this ship anyway? It seems almost brand new." Stork asked looking up at Heron

"Sadly, while I'm good at many things, flying a ship is not one of them." He looked down at Stork. "Know any good pilots?"

Stork felt his heart sink a bit. He knew he was a good pilot, but there was no way he could get employment like that for a few more years.

"Come with me for second, I have to store this sample in my lab." Heron turned around headed for the ladder in the back of the bridge. Down the ladder led to the engine room, Dr.Heron headed up the ladder, to where the only cabin was located on these variety of ship. Stork followed him, coming out the top he saw various containers being powered by Freezing Crystals. Dr.Heron opened one and placed the vial containing the black blood inside. He stood up and looked at Stork. "Tell me, young one, have you ever been sick?"

Stork nodded, disease was far from uncommon on Terra Merb. You just had to hope you only caught one that wouldn't kill you.

"Disease of all sorts of variety plague this world, but there aren't many ways to treat the serious ones like you saw earlier." Dr.Heron was starting to get an excited tone in his voice as he continued. "Sadly the only way to truly study a disease is to take samples as it's happening. I get word of an outbreak I have to be there quickly, hence why I have this ship. But, I can't risk studying these samples on a ship, one bit a turbulence rocks the floor causing a vial to break, and that's the end of it. I have to set-up a base of operations, which I plan to do here, on Terra Merb, my old home. Many diseases here to study anyway, but I also need samples of rarer diseases that are in farther off places, but to go to them would take time away from my research."

He looked at Stork straight in the eye now. "I find myself in need of an assistant. Interested?"

Stork was shocked. "Why me?"

"Judging by how you ferried me both to and from that unfortunate dwelling, I would say you have practiced your flight skills to near perfection. Very rare for a merb, it kind of reminds me of me. I definitely don't fit the role of the usual merb." Heron let a grin spread across his face. "Besides I have a gut feeling you will have knack for this kind of thing. It will be quite simple really though, you will fly out to the terras where an unusual disease has sprung up and collect samples and bring them back to me."

"But won't I be in danger of being exposed and getting sick?" Stork asked, unsure of if he would ever be capable of something so dangerous.

"That's why, while I am having my lab built here, I will be teaching about all the diseases and various other nasty little things I have encountered in my travels. You will learn all the necessary precautions and treatments that I have developed. It will be hard, and I'll be drill it into your brain, but it will get you off this terra. You will be able to explore The Atmos, and somehow I feeling that is what you truly want."

Stork felt excited at the prospect of seeing the world. Dr.Heron reached out his hand. "Do we have an agreement?" Stork nodded enthusiastically and shook the older merb's hand.

Months passed while Dr.Heron's lab was being built and set up. During this time he gave Stork a crash course in a multitude of studies. From parasites, to insects, to proper protection and procedures when working in an infectious environment. Stork learned it all, but it caused him to develop insomnia from long late night study sessions. His new found knowledge also caused him to be wary of everything around him knowing exactly where diseases were lurking.

But, it was all worth it the first time he went out on his first trip to gather samples from a nearby terra that had a sudden outbreak of Sleep Measles, not a deadly disease but still worth investigating. Dr.Heron accompanied him the first time out to make sure everything went okay. Everything went fine, Stork collected samples and Heron administered basic treatment to the locals. It was the first of many such journeys for Stork. Dr.Heron would occasionally accompany him on trips to collect samples from specific rare diseases.

It was a year after they had met when an outbreak hit Terra Merb, an outbreak of the very disease they had met because of, Black Growth. Dr.Heron went to work trying various treatments he had developed seeing if any positive results had come from his research. Within a week five merbs were dead, ten more still sick and not getting better. Luckily it was isolated to a remote part of the terra within a family that all lived together on a small farm.

Stork ran trips back and forth from the farm to the lab in his old hauler. When one would die Stork would take the body to Heron for autopsy. After the fifth one had died, depression was hitting Stork as he realized none of the treatments were working and they were all going to die.

Over the next couple of days the rest finally died except for one. A young female merb, she showed signs of having a slowed progression. It was certain she would die, but not for at least another couple days. Stork was beside himself with grief, his nerves were near the breaking point. They moved the girl to the lab to have her close for observation.

Stork talked with Heron about just helping her slip off peacefully. "She doesn't need to suffer. We can just keep her doped up until she fades. We don't need anymore data..."

Heron stopped Stork with a raise of his hand. "Don't finish that sentence. Of course we need more data!" Heron raised his voice. "She shows signs of resistance to a highly deadly disease. Yes, it's not enough to save her, but if I can figure out why she is resistant we may be able to duplicate it and improve it to where we can control and stop this disease cold! Doping her will affect her system and not give a clear reading on the scanners. We need her system clear to keep the readings as accurate as possible." Stork knew he couldn't win, he was still a novice when compared to Heron. So he backed down and went back to recording data.

Three days later, in extreme pain, the girl died. Stork was physically exhausted, he hadn't slept the entire time. Heron told him to go rest while he preformed the autopsy. On the way back to his room he decided he wouldn't be able to sleep yet, so he decided to to go fly his hauler around to help clear his mind. He went out back to where the hauler was parked and got in. Before he started up the engine, he noticed the corner of something sticking up between the seats. Before he even realized what he was doing, he pulled out what turned out to be a notebook, opened it, and began to read it. It was Dr.Heron's notes on this case of Black Growth. Normally he wouldn't read these, they were the doctor's personal notes. But, Stork felt that he needed to read these, he had been to involved in it not to learn everything he could. As he read, more and more, his eye began to twitch. He rushed back inside, and yelled at the top of his lungs. "YOU MADE THEM SICK!!"

Heron looked up from the body of the girl, he already had her open and weighing her organs on a small scale. "Stork, your interrupting me."

Stork threw the notebook at the doctor, Heron looked down and the book and knew what had Stork so upset. He simply sighed, and looked up at the young merb, his face unreadable from his shaded goggles. "Yes, Stork, I made them sick. Black Growth is a rarity, even rarer is a resistance to it. Do you remember the one who died from this when we first met." Stork nodded, he could never forget that sight. "These were his relatives."

Stork was horrified. "Why?" He could barely choke out the word past his clenched teeth.

"Because that man lasted a week longer than most ever would, I arrived there expecting a corpse, but instead found a someone barely clinging to life. But he was worthless for study, to far gone." Excitement was seeping into his voice now. "Imagine my surprise though when, a month ago, I found he had some relatives. I thought at least one of them might have a resistance similar to his." He made a gesture at the girl's body that lay on his table. "Look at it Stork, it is a truly horrifying and deadly disease. The most destructive to the body I have ever encountered. I can't let any chance of finding a way to master this disease escape me. And so, one late night trip and a couple drops into their water supply later, and I have all the test subjects I need." Heron grinned at this, to Stork it seemed like the grin of the devil himself.

Stork felt as if the floor below him about to give out. How could he have worked next to this man all this time and not seen this madness. His eye was twitching like mad now. Heron just looked at him. "I should probably have a look at that twitch you have going there Stork, people might think your crazy with a twitch like that." His grin never left his face. "Come on Stork, calm yourself, how you can you not understand this? So what if few die here and there? It won't matter if we can conquer the ultimate disease."

Stork collapsed onto the floor. "Ultimate disease? What's worse than then Black Growth?"

"Death, Stork, death is the ultimate disease." Heron began to move around the room throwing his hands in the air as he spoke. "Only by studying the worse ways people can die and finding the cure for that can we even come close to conquering death." Heron walked towards Stork and put his hand out to the young merb. "Come Stork, don't let all this time we have worked together be in vain. There is still much for you to learn, so much for us both to discover."

Stork rolled over and got to his feet and ran out the door. He made his way to hauler, turned it on, and raced out of there. He could faintly hear Heron yelling at him but was unable to make out the words. He made it to the dock where the airship was, got on and started it up. He took off and never came back.

...

Piper just stared at the Stork, she didn't know what to say. The story he had just finished telling was more terrible than she could have imagined. It explained a lot of Stork's problems, from his fear and knowledge of disease, to his distrust of others. She just stood there, unable to speak.

"Later, I heard about the Cyclonian attack, and the _death _of Dr.Heron. I figured it was a good enough time to put my past behind me." Stork said, staring straight ahead at the horizon. "And now here we are, going into Cyclonian territory where a long thought dead part of my past is alive and still continuing his experiments." He then looked over at Piper. "So I hope you'll forgive me if I'm not very happy about this mission."

Piper wanted to say something, but she couldn't really find the words. She started to put a hand out towards his shoulder. "Stork, I..."

Stork interrupted her. "We're entering Cyclonian territory now." He said in a flat tone. "You may want to go tell they others to prepared for whatever may happen. Not exactly the most welcoming skies in The Atmos." As he said this, the sky seemed to darken, the clouds were higher and thicker here letting in very little light.

Piper dropped her hand back to her side and made her way to the the doors that led to other parts of the carrier. Before she went through, she turned to look at Stork and said. "I'm sorry Stork. I didn't know it was this hard for you."

Without turning to look at her he simply said. "It's not your fault. Some things just don't stay buried, no matter how much you want them to."

With that Piper turned and left Stork alone on the bridge. His eye was still twitching and his ear was keeping time.

_TwitchTwitch...TwitchTwitch...TwitchTwitch..._

...

_BeepBeep...BeepBeep...BeepBeep..._

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Whew, a long chapter, and a bit darker than those before, to be sure. Looks like I have created another OC and he's also evil it seems. Maybe I need therapy.

On a side note, Today is my birthday, hooray for me. What do I want you ask? Reviews and lots of them. Bad and good reviews are all welcome. remember this stuff is also about what you guys want to read. So hope to get plenty of feed back..Later.


	6. Ch5 Lockout and In

And so we join our sky flying friends, once again, as they enter Cyclonian territory. Stork has revealed his past with Dr.Heron, but what will it mean for the future? Will the Storm Hawks find the answers about Cyclonis' resurrection? Will the beeping ever stop?(Probably not, to much fun torturing you guys with it.) Read and see, and when your done, REVIEW! And away we go.

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Heart of Darkness...Lockout and In

Piper walked to the kitchen, but she wasn't feeling hungry. After hearing about Stork's past, she knew it would be awhile before she had an appetite again. She was going there because she was pretty sure the other guys were still there, as there weren't many other places to be besides the bridge. As she walked in she noticed Junko and Finn passed out on the floor, their stomachs bulging and a mess of plates and dishes scattered across the kitchen floor.

_Great, just great, as if supplies weren't already going to be tight._ She thought to herself as she surveyed the mess._ Well, at least cleaning this up will give me time to relax my own mind._

It was as she was reaching for a plate, currently being hugged close by Junko like a teddy bear, that she realized Aerrow was sitting in the corner of the kitchen. He appeared to completely absorbed in what looked like a book on mid-flight battle tactics. "Interesting book?" She asked, still pulling the plate from Junko's sleeping grip.

"Don't know yet." He said, his voice sounding distant. "I haven't even made it past the first page. My mind is completely wrapped up in exactly how we are supposed to sneak into Cyclonis' citadel, undetected, get the information, and the slip out again." Then Aerrow closed the book, and let a sigh. "I just wish we were making a bigger impact."

"Like maybe storm the throne room, defeat Dark Ace, capture Cyclonis and Dr.Heron, then bring them to The Sky Council to give all the answers personally?" Piper said, a slight sarcastic tone to her voice.

"Exactly." Aerrow said with a grin. "Assuming we can avoid being shot out of the sky, fight past countless Talons, and actually get Cyclonis to surrender. Then it should be a cake walk." They both let out a small laugh.

"They can't all be grand missions to rid The Atmos of evil." Piper said after she regained herself from laughing. "Sometimes though, it's the smallest sting that hurts the most."

"Ya, your right Piper." Aerrow said, the sound of acceptance in his voice. Then he looked up at Piper after remembered something. "Oh yeah, how did things go with Stork?"

Piper was not sure how to respond to the question. Stork had been reluctant to open up, and she doubted that he really wanted everyone to know his past. "Well..." She said, dragging out the L sound to stall for a bit. "I don't think there will be any problems as long as Stork stays on the ship like usual."

"Is there anything we should know about? I had the feeling that Stork has a past with Dr.Heron." Aerrow asked this in his usual voice that showed his concern as well as his own curiosity.

"I really don't feel comfortable telling Stork's past for him." Piper said, She started nervously rubbing her left arm. "For now, let's just say he's not happy about all this, and it would be best not to bother him about it till it's all over." Piper quickly changed the subject, not wanting to continue the current conversation. "By the way, we just entered Cyclonian territory, better wake up these guys so we can go over the plan." _Not that we'll end up following it. _She thought to herself.

They both then went about the near impossible task of waking up Junko and Finn. Both of them still happily in a stuffed belly coma.

...

He sat in his office, the lights off and the shades drawn, it was completely dark. The only light came in small quick pulses from a small green crystal in his hand. It would flash twice quickly, pause, then flash twice again. A smile was on his face, a smile that clearly showed both his delight and a small spark of something sinister.

"They're getting close now." He said to no one but himself. "It should be almost time for activation." Then crystal suddenly, as if feeling his will for it to do so, changed it's rhythm. It was now flashing quickly three times between pauses. He let a small laugh escape his mouth, then pressed a button on the intercom on his desk.

"Yes sir, Sky General Stryker, sir!" The voice of his aide said through the intercom. "You have orders, sir?"

"Yes." Stryker said, a smile still on his face. "Assemble as many of the fleet and local Sky Knight squadrens as you can. We set out in two hours, I have a feeling The Storm Hawks have failed."

"By your orders, sir!" The aide responded through the intercom.

Stryker let his finger slip off the intercom button, and then proceeded to laugh loudly. His office was still dark save for the light of the flashing crystal. "By the time we arrive at Cyclonia, all should be as I have predicted. And then, all of The Atmos shall sing my praises, and the only mention of The Storm Hawks shall be about they're costly _sacrifice." _He sat there in his dark office, still smiling, imagining his victory speech while he waited for his grand fleet to be assembled.

...

Piper was standing at the head of the kitchen table, they were still in the kitchen because they felt like letting Stork have his space. They had managed to wake up Finn and Junko, though they only seemed half awake and eager to get back to sleep. Aerrow was sitting down across the table from her with Radarr perched on his shoulders as usual. They were ready as they ever were to begin their strategy session.

"As I'm sure you remember, things didn't go so well last time we sneaked into Cyclonia." She began, trying to keep an assertive tone to her voice. "Even though we succeeded in the end, it was really only thanks to Starling being there that we able to pull it off."

"Ya." Finn suddenly spoke up. "Wish we could have her here now, she would totally help us kick in Cyclonis' butt."

"If only that were an option." Piper said, also wishing that they had Starling's help. "But she only shows up when she needs us for something, and we have no way of contacting her. So we will just have to do it right this time." She then looked directly at Junko and Finn, pointing a finger at them. "That goes double for you two. I know you don't like to follow my plans exactly, but this is to important to make up as we go along." She looked around, and it seemed she actually had their full attention. "So Stork should have us flying low already to avoid detection, when we arrive..."

"Um, Piper?" Junko spoke up now, interrupting Piper as she had just begun explaining the plan.

Piper rolled her eyes. _Great, _she thought_, just when I thought they were actually going to listen. _She decided to go ahead and hear what Junko had to say. "What is it Junko?"

Junko started rubbing his hands together nervously. "Um, if we're supposed to be flying low, shouldn't we be, uh, lower?" He then pointed out the Kitchen window.

Piper looked out the window. She felt confused, they hadn't lowered altitude at all. She went over to the wall and spoke into the speaking tube that lead to the bridge. "Stork, why haven't we gone lower? We'll be detected if we stay this high."

"Oh, believe me, nothing would make me happier than to avoid being seen and then shot at by every Cyclonian in scanning range." Stork's voice carried a worried tone back through the speaking tube. "Maybe you guys should come here so I can show you how doomed we seem to be."

Piper looked back at the others with a worried glance. They all quickly got up and headed for the bridge. When they arrived, they saw a very agitated Stork desperately pulling at the controls and going at the steering column with a wrench. His left eye and ear twitching in time with each other.

"Stork, what's going on?" Aerrow asked approaching the nervous pilot.

"Oh, nothing much." Stork replied in a calm voice that was opposite of how he looked. He then took a deep breath for the next part of what he had to say. "Except for the fact that the autopilot has engaged and won't deactivate, leaving us well inside the range of Cyclonian scanners. By the way, they most likely know we're coming by now." He then darted over to one of the control consoles, quickly reading over some of the indicator lights and gauges. "It would also seem some of my trap devices have sprung on their own."

"Which ones?" Piper asked, fear now building inside her over what seemed to be a worsening situation.

"It looks like it's the ones I designed to lock down the ship in case anyone besides us try to take her. A necessary precaution, I might add, after time you guys sold The Condor." Stork said, he began pressing a series of buttons, but nothing was working. "None of my overrides are working though. But, nothing explains why we're still moving. I designed this system to shut down the engines and switch into hover. Also, all the hatches are now sealed, as well as access to the hanger, pretty much locking us in." Then he looked back at everyone. "So unless anyone has any bright ideas, I'd say we're pretty doomed."

Everyone started looking around at each other, hoping one of them would have an idea of what to do. But, before any of them could say anything, a voice came out of all The Condor's speaking tubes. "Greetings Storm Hawks."

"Stryker?" Finn said looking around in confusion. "Is he on the ship?"

"This a recording meant to congratulate you." Stryker's voice continued over the tubes. "You have successfully entered Cyclonian territory, at least you managed to do that right." Stryker's voice had taken a harsher, more smug tone now. "You no doubt have noticed that you can't steer your ship anymore. Don't worry, I'm sure the hull should hold long up enough, from the damage it's sure to receive, for your carrier to get close enough to Cyclonis' citadel. Then my little present I left for both you and Cyclonis should activate."

"Oh crap!" Finn shouted, a mix of fear and anger in his voice. "He's using us as a freaking bomb." He looked around at his very scared friends. "What did we ever do to this guy?"

"Don't worry, you may survive yet, though I doubt it." Stryker's voice continued. "We are simply using some interesting technology we got from Cyclonis' files against her. After it's activated, my fleet will arrive in time to pick up the pieces and defeat whatever forces may remain." And then with a sinisterly joyful tone, Stryker voice added one last comment. "We'll make sure to turn what's left of your rust bucket of a ship into a museum and give you all a proper burial fit for our greatest heroes. I'll even read your eulogy, it should be quite stirring, I might even cry. Anyway, goodbye Storm Hawks, make sure to die in one piece so we can have an open casket ceremony." Only silence followed, Stryker's message was finished.

Everyone stood there silently, not sure how what to say. They all looked around in a daze, hoping this was some cruel joke or bad dream. But no one was popping out laughing, and it was a very real situation. It was Finn, surprisingly, that spoke first.

"Dude, this is so not cool. When we get back we totally have to beat the shine off his bald head."

Piper looked at Finn, anger rising. "Finn, we have to deal with this situation. This is no time to be making jokes."

Aerrow spoke up before Piper could slap Finn across the back of the head. "No, Finn's right. We have to get even with Stryker after this." Confidence was coming back into his voice now. "Just means we have to get through this first, understand?"

Piper realized what Aerrow meant, the situation was about surviving now. "Right." Then looking straight at Aerrow. "Any plans on exactly how to do that?"

Aerrow thought for a second, taking in the situation before he finally started giving out orders. He looked over at Finn and Junko. "You two, I want you to search the ship for anything suspicious. Check where all the speaking tubes come together first, Stryker's little message didn't come from nowhere."

"Right." Finn said, then patting Junko's shoulder. "Lets go Junko." Both he and Junko left the bride making way to the engine room.

Aerrow then turned to Stork. "Stork, check through everything to see what we still have control of, and think of any ways that we could override your traps."

"I've been doing that since before you came to the bridge." Stork replied with a slight edge to his voice. "Don't worry, doom can wait. I plan on making Stryker eat his words for calling my precious Condor a _rust bucket."_

Aerrow then turned to Piper. "Piper, the message said they were using Cyclonis' technology. Is there anything you can think of after reading through all those transcripts?"

Piper looked worried. "I haven't read them all yet. I was keeping most of what I read to Cyclonis' resurrection. Besides, I doubt Stryker would have allowed us to have information on whatever he's put on the ship."

"Stryker seems pretty arrogant." Aerrow said, still trying to keep some control on the situation. "He might not have cared, thinking there was nothing we could do, even if we knew. Check through everything just to be sure.

Piper, with a nod, made her way to the door but before passing through to go to her lab, she turned to look at Aerrow. "What about you Aerrow? What are you going to do?"

Before He could answer, Stork interupted. "I have a suggestion." He was looking straight out in front of them. "Maybe you could think of a way to deal with them?"

Out in front of them, two red and black vessels were coming into view. They all knew what they were, but Aerrow said it anyway. "Cyclonian battle cruisers."

Stork let out a sigh. "I take back what said about doom waiting. Looks like it came looking for us."

...

_BeepBeepBeep...BeepBeepBeep...BeepBeepBeep..._

* * *

Sorry that took a little longer than I wanted to get out here. Work has been a bit busy. Next chapter will finally answer the big question. _WHAT THE HELL IS THAT BEEPING? _I'm sure you all have your theories. I would love to hear them, tell them in a review maybe? It will help me to know if any of you can see it coming. Unless you think I should drag out the beeping more? Just kidding. Or am I?


	7. Ch6 We're Under Attack?

Well, judging by everyone's reviews, all of your mental stability levels have reached a fine boiling point. I'd like to thank Mr.Beep, he's been a helpful plot device, and now it's time to reveal his mystery to the world. Hope you all enjoy the surprise, I really do. Also, sorry to any of you who hate my cliffhangers, but they're to much fun to stop now. And away we go!

* * *

Heart of Darkness...We're Under Attack?

The lights on The Condor's bridge seemed to darken with the presence of the two Cyclonian battle cruisers now bearing down on them. With no way to evade, or even fight back, panic was now beginning to creep into their minds. Aerrow knew now was not the time to lose their heads, he just needed to think of something.

"Stork!" Aerrow yelled over at the merb, the yell was necessary to get his attention away from the danger in front of them. "How long do we have before we're within range of their blasters?"

"Let's see." Stork was now running the numbers in his mind and ticking off the various factors with his fingers. "Given our current speed and theirs, as well as our inability to make any maneuvers. I would say we have till.." He was cut off as a blast of red energy fell just short of The Condor's right pontoon. "... their next shot."

"We need to make evasive maneuvers, now!" Aerrow said, already knowing how futile it was, given their current situation."We can't even fire back because our gun ports are sealed."

"Thanks for stating the obvious!" Stork yelled at Aerrow.

"Why did you have to install a lock down mechanism anyway?" Aerrow yelled back.

"Well maybe if certain people weren't always leaving The Condor unguarded..." Stork started.

"Guys!" Piper yelled from where she stood in the doorway. "Really not the time!" She pointed back towards the cruisers, red energy coming from their guns once again.

Aerrow ran over to the speaking tubes. "Finn! Junko! Brace for impact!"

Aerrow grabbed onto a hand rail on the wall, Piper grabbed the door frame, and Stork gripped the unresponsive controls hoping for some reaction from them. And then the energy blasts came down towards The Condor and... nothing happened.

Stork opened one of his eyes, which he had been clinching shut, and looked around confused. "Um, not to sound ungrateful that we're not a ball of flames, but shouldn't we be exploding in a horrible ball of flames right now?"

Aerrow and Piper looked around, they were just as confused as Stork. "It looked like the shots were on target." Aerrow said. "Did they miss?"

"We're a steady moving target that's not even firing back at them, even a blind man could have hit us." Stork said, he was now reading over various gauges and readings, trying to make sense of it all. The he looked at a indicator light he hadn't looked at since they're first engagement with the Cyclonians. "Well, this was unexpected." Stork said with genuine surprise in his voice.

"What is it?" Piper asked coming over to stand next to Stork.

He pointed at an indicator light that was on over a slightly dusty gauge. "It would seem our shields are working again." He wiped the dust off the gauge. "Better than they did before. That's why we didn't feel anything from the blasts, the shields completely absorbed the impact."

Piper looked at the gauge, still feeling confused. She looked outside the forward window and saw a clear purple field enveloping the ship. "But I thought our shields were knocked out permanently back in our first battle with the Cyclonians?"

"They were." Stork said, suspicion now rising in his voice. "Somebody must have replaced them."

"Hold on a second." Aerrow said, remembering their current situation. "Stryker has basically sent us on a suicide run at Cyclonis, but was kind enough to give us amped up shields? And now we have Cyclonians using us for target practice. Can this get any worse?"

As if on cue, a burst of energy blasts shot from both of the battlecruisers. Just as before, they hit the shields, there was no feeling of impact. The lights flared a bit after the blasts hit. Stork looked up at the lights and simply said. "Well that can't be good."

"The shields must be tied directly into main power." Piper stated, she went over to the power readouts and began looking over their readings. "It must be some sort of feedback power surge." She paused to collect her thoughts. "This is still weird though."

"How so?" Aerrow asked, he went and stood beside her as she studied the power readouts. The Cyclonian ships were still regularly firing at them, but with no way to maneuver or fight back, they could only sit back and hope the shields didn't drain all their power.

"These reading don't really make any sense." Piper said, she had a confused look on her face as she stared at the readouts. "I have to go and look and this shield generator, it might give me some clues as to what's going on here." She began to move towards the door.

Aerrow grabbed her arm. "Wait a second." Aerrow had a serious look on his face as he spoke. "Chances are Stryker doesn't want us messing with whatever he's had installed. It might be rigged with traps or something."

"This whole thing is a trap." Piper countered, she shook her arm free from Aerrow's grip. "We won't know what we can do till we go look at it. We can't just sit here while we wait for whatever Styker has planned to just happen." She went back towards the door, making her way to where engine room where their old non-working generator used to be. Aerrow followed her, uncertain of what exactly they may find.

Stork looked back at the from where he stood at the steering console. When they were gone he simply said, to no one at all. "That's right. Just leave Stork on the bridge while you go look at a potentially booby trapped device. Not like I know anything about traps." He let go of the unresponsive controls and looked outside at the Cyclonians still firing at them. The lights still dimmed and brightened back up again after every shot, but still no real feeling of impact. He looked further into the distance, the craggy peaks of Terra Cyclonia were starting to appear on the horizon. Stork estimated they had about an hour before they were right on top of the Cyclonian Citadel. "Doom on the inside, doom on the outside, and doom on the horizon." His eye twitch was still in full gear along with the twitch of his ear. "Guess I better go make sure that they don't blow us up before Cyclonis can have her turn to destroy us." He let out a sigh, and followed them to the engine room.

...

Piper made her way to The Condor's engine room. She was still trying to make sense of how the shields were working. The reality is that they should feel an impact from the blasts being fired at them. It was obvious that they weren't dealing with conventional shields, but she wouldn't know more till she had a chance to examine the generator. She was so lost in thought she didn't notice Junko walking towards her and bumped into him.

"Oh, hey there Piper" Junko said, his usual grin crossing his face. "Sorry, didn't mean to bump into you there."

"It's okay." Piper said, she was already beginning to step around him. She was a bit impatient to get to the generator, so much so she bumped right into Finn.

"Wow Piper, you should probably get your eyes checked." Finn said in his usual mocking tone.

"I'm just in a bit of a hurry Finn." Piper said, now starting to feel a bit frustrated. "I need to get to the engine room."

"Well, you might wanna take a look at this first." Finn held up a device that Piper wasn't familiar with. "We found it where all the speaking tubes intersect. It's probably what played Stryker's little love message."

Aerrow had caught up to them now. "Looks like a simple voice recorder to me."

It was Junko's turn to speak up now. "Ya, but if you look closely, you'll see that it has some sort of remote activator on it. Short range type as far as I can tell, so whatever triggered it is on the ship, but in a different place."

Aerrow thought for a second. "Okay, Finn and Junko, you guys go to the bridge and keep an eye on the situation. Piper and I will keep heading to the engine room." With that, both he and Piper continued to the engine room.

Finn looked up at Junko, a slight confused expression on his face. "What's the situation on the bridge?"

Junko had an equally confused expression on his face. "Dunno, maybe it has something to do with when Aerrow yelled something about an impact before, but nothing seemed to hit us."

Stork came by just as Junko finished speaking, he didn't stop moving, he just calmly spoke to them as he passed them. "We're under attack by two Cyclonian battlecruisers, and have no way of fighting back. But, try not to worry to much, the shields seem to be holding up quite well." And with that he continued on his way, not even looking back.

Finn looked up at Junko, a worried tone in his voice. "Cyclonians?"

Junko looked back at Finn, a confused expression on his face. "Shields?"

...

Piper entered the engine room and went to the corner where the once defunct shield generator sat. Aerrow stood next her as she examined it, staying alert in case anything should go wrong. From just looking at, Piper couldn't see anything different about it, it didn't even seem to be on. Getting closer she could start to hear a slight humming, but it wasn't coming from the broken generator. She looked behind the broken machine, and that's when she saw it.

It was small, shaped like a cube, no higher than Piper's knee. Various cables were attached to it's black exterior, they connected to the old shield generator's cables that fed into the shield emitters. Another set of cables fed through the floor and, most likely, into The Condor's main power lines.

Aerrow crouched down in front of it, next to Piper. "Any ideas?"

Piper didn't take her gaze from the device. "It's obviously what's responsible for powering the shields, but it seems kind of small for a generator." She got closer to it, looking for any signs of how it worked. "It doesn't have any normal access point or gauges of any kind." She pointed out a small antenna on the top of it. "A short range antenna, just like the one on the recorder Finn and Junko found. So it was remote activated by something else on the ship"

"Great." Aerrow said, he stood up and started looking around the engine room. "I'm starting to really dislike Stryker and his unwelcome gift giving."

Stork entered the engine room at this point, he looked at both of them, his eye and ear seemed to twitch more violently than before. "So how doomed are we?"

Piper looked at him. "Hard to say, but for now it doesn't look like anything is going to blow up." Then she noticed his severe twitching, she became worried about Stork current mental state. "Are you okay? You seem to have a stronger twitch than normal."

Stork looked at her, he seemed to not be too concerned about his current state. "Yeah, I've noticed my ear has been twitchy since I fell out of bed the other day. Probably nerve damage or something more severe. Nothing to big to worry about given our current state."

Piper stepped closer to him, she was noticing something but couldn't tell what. She had an idea suddenly, she reached out and grabbed Stork's hand. "Come with me."

She pulled Stork towards the bridge, once they had arrived Stork shook his hand free of Piper's grasp. "No touchy! You know how many diseases are transmitted through touch?" Stork was speaking in a shaky voice, but his twitch was less severe.

Finn and Junko were on the bridge staring out the front window. "Um, how come Cyclonians are blasting us and we're not even shaking a little bit?" Finn asked, his worry and confusion evident in his voice.

"Still working that one out." Piper said to Finn before turning her attention back to Stork. Looking at him closely, she noticed that his twitching, unlike normal, had a rhythm to it. Also, it wasn't noticeable here, on the bridge, as it had been in the engine room. She was getting an idea, but was still working out the details. "Stork, i have an idea."

"It doesn't involve you grabbing me again does it?" Stork said, he was still rubbing his hand as if he dirt on it that wouldn't come off.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Grow up for a second and listen. The receiver on that device attached to the old shield generator, I think it's still receiving a signal from whatever activated it. And, if my guess is right it must be an ultrasonic frequency."

Stork stared at her, he was showing signs of impatience. "Okay, but why did I have to be manhandled by you?"

"You said it yourself before, remember?" Piper then lowered her voice so low it was barely a whisper. "Your ears are more sensitive than the rest of ours." She brought her voice back up to a normal level and continued explaining. "So whether your aware of it or not, you must be hearing the signal. It's more severe in the engine room because the signal is being sent there. So if we can follow the signal from the the engine room, we might be able to find whatever else Stryker put on the ship."

Stork stood there for a moment taking in everything Piper had just said. "So how exactly are we going to do that?"

"First things first." Piper looked over to where Junko and Finn were still gawking at Cycloian's impactless attack. "Junko!" The young wallop turned to look at her. "I want you to head to the engine room and see if you can give me any ideas on just how that shield generator works. Aerrow will show you where it is, just be careful it could be rigged with something." Junko nodded and went on his way to the engine room. "Finn, you can stay here and keep am eye on things, yell if anything changes."

Finn just gave her a look. "Considering how things are right now, I'm not sure it couldn't get any worse. But I'll keep an eye out."

Piper then looked back at Stork. "Your coming with me."

Stork tensed up. "No touchy."

Piper rolled her eyes again. "Not the time to be sweating the small stuff. I just want you to walk in front of me as we walk the ship. I get the feeling I'll be able to tell where anything else is by how much your ear twitches."

Stork let out a sigh of relief. Then both he and Piper started their search for whatever else Styker might have had placed on the ship.

20 minutes later...

Piper and Stork were standing on the bridge again, Finn was still staring out the window, and Junko was coming back from the engine room with Aerrow in tow. All of them had a a worn look on their faces.

Aerrow took charge, as best he could. "So what's our status?"

Finn spoke up first. "Still being blasted at with no signs of letting up. Man, being under attack has never been so boring." He let out a yawn.

Piper went next, she sounded even less enthusiastic than Finn. "Me and Stork went over as much as the ship as we could. There were a couple of times his ear twitched a little faster but, sine we were close to the engine room when it happened, I figure it was from being close to that cube."

"Well there was that bit near the living quarters." Stork chimed in, his voice in is usual depressed tone. "But we searched all around in the rooms and came up with nothing."

"We didn't check your room Stork." Piper added.

"No one gets in my room but me, I have to many counter measures in place for anyone but me to be able to open my door and live." He let a slight smile cross his face at that. "Trust me, my room is secure."

Aerrow walked towards Stork now, trying to keep hold of the situation. "We thought that about The Condor too, and look where we are."

"My security measures are perfect!" Stork was getting defensive now. "I don't have any idea how they got on the ship! All the doors are secured every time I have to leave with you guys. I check every lock twice! They would have had to cut into the side of the ship to get on!"

"They did." Junko suddenly spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at the wallop, Aerrow asked the obvious question. "How do you know that?"

Junko cleared his throat then began his explanation. "While I was examining the thing they have stuck on our old generator, I noticed not all the cables went to the usual places. Most of them were tied into our main power and the emitter cables, but a couple went lower than I could see."

"Is that why you started taking up floor panels?" Aerrow asked "Why didn't you tell me back then?"

"You wanted to head back to the bridge, so I figured I'd tell you here." Junko explained, then he went back to the original topic. "Anyway, after I took up some of the floor I was able to see some of the inside hull. The were marks from where it had been cut open and welded back shut. The cables I saw still lead to the outside, through the hull."

With that, Stork got up quickly and went over to one of the periscopes that gave them an underside view of The Condor. After a couple seconds of Stork swiveling around, he finally stopped and let out a slight growl.

"What is it?" Aerrow asked coming over next to Stork.

"Take a look for yourself." Stork said, disgust was evident in his voice as he stepped away from the periscope.

Aerrow grasped the handles of the periscope and took a look through the lenses. What he saw was a black device of some sort clamped onto their bottom hull, the cables Junko had mentioned were bound to the hull and led back towards where the engine room was like thick black vines. Aerrow stepped away from the periscope, he felt some of Stork's disgust after seeing it. "It looks like we found our problem."

Piper came up now and started looking through the periscope. As she was looking through it, Stork was stomping around, shaking his hands with anger. "It looks like they gave The Condor cancer!" He spat out these words, anger clear in his voice. "I'll make Styker pay for attaching something so vile to my precious Condor."

Piper was taking in what she could from her limited view of the device. _This is probably what is generating our shield. _She thought to herself, she started guessing as to how it worked. "_The cube in the engine room must be some sort of power relay device. Looks like a sending and receiving antenna on it, so that explains where the activator was. But how is it absorbing the impact and power of the blasts? The only thing I know of that absorbs crystal energy like that is..._ She stepped away from the periscope, the thought just occurred to her was more dangerous than the Cyclonians outside.

"Guys, we're in trouble." Piper said, looking at them all with obvious fear in her eyes.

Finn spoke up from where he stod by the window. "Uh, Piper, not exactly a newsflash."

"No I mean worse trouble." Piper started to panic now.

Aerrow tried to calm her down, keeping his own voice in check. "Piper, calm down, and slowly tell us what you mean."

"I don't think we really have a shield around us." Piper said, trying to keep calm as she spoke, but she could feel time was running out. "It's more like an absorption field, we're absorbing their shots before they hit us. The power is being pulled through our emitters, through the relay in the engine room into that thing on our hull."

"So how bad is this to us?" Aerrow asked, not quite catching Piper's meaning.

"Think Aerrow, it's like we're a giant flying Leech Crystal. We're absorbing power, and it's most likely being stored in that thing. Now, what's gonna happen when it gets full?" Piper said, looking at each of them, seeing that they were all finally getting it.

"So we're gonna go boom!?" Finn asked, panic now rising in his voice. "But wait, these guys have been firing at us for awhile now, how much longer do you think we have?"

Piper thought for a second. "The power relay in the engine room has been most lilely siphoning off some of the energy into our own power systems, making it so we didn't explode to quickly. I'm guessing Stryker doesn't want us exploding before we are in range of Cyclonis' citadel. He must have timed this all out, that's why he didn't want us making any side trips."

"But why would he want to blow us up?" Finn asked, he was gripping the back of a chair hard enough to turn his knuckles white. "Cyclonis sure, but why us? I'm too handsome to be blown up!"

"Finn, get a hold of yourself!" Aerrow yelled at his panicking friend. He turned back to Piper, hoping she may have a solution. "Do you think we could just cut the cables leading to it, maybe it will stop the power build up."

"Yeah, maybe." Piper thought for a second, then let out a sigh. "But we would still be unable to control The Condor, and have nothing between us and the Cyclonian's blasters. We would be destroyed in no time."

Stork, standing once again by the unresponsive flight controls, spoke up now. "I don't think that matters anymore." He pointed out the window into the dark distance. "We're here."

In the distance, the clouds parted just enough to show that they were now coming up on Terra Cyclonia. A dark, menacing, tower extended up from the ground below. They knew the sight well, they'd seen it before last time they come this far into Cyclonian territory.

"If we get in range of their defense turrets the power build up will will take us over the edge for sure." Piper said, panic had creeped back into her voice.

Aerrow looked over to Stork. "How long till we're in range of their guns?"

Stork had a slight calm to his voice as he spoke. "Three."

Aerrow looked at him, confused. "Three minutes?"

Stork kept his eerily calm voice. "Two"

It dawned on all of them what he meant at that point. They all now stared out the window, toward the dark tower before them.

"One."

Like a swarm, glowing red energy flowed up from the multitude of turrets that sat on the citadel and various outcroppings around it. Many things happened simultaneously at this point. The blasts struck the shields at the same time, power flowed into the emitters, causing most of them to overload and short out. The mass of energy flowed through the cables into the power relay in the engine room, melting it, the power flowed into both The Condor and the black device on it's hull. The lights and some consoles exploded from the power surge. Beneath their feet, The Storm Hawks could feel a humming that quickly became a rumble. They all closed their eyes, expecting what would come next would be a massive blast of power certain to destroy them.

Instead what they got was the feeling of something passing through them, followed by the feeling of falling. Aerrow opened his eyes ,out the window in front of him, he saw a wave of clear purple shooting out in all directions. Looking around he saw that there was no power anywhere on the bidge, it was dark save for the lights outside coming through the windows. He looked over at Stork, the young merb was pulling at some lever he had never seen him use before. Stork pulled the lever, and suddenly it didn't feel like they were falling anymore.

He finally found his voice. "What happened? Why aren't we in a million pieces?"

Stork was fiddling around with various levers and switches. "Your guess is as good as mine at this point. I'm just trying to restart everything, but nothing is responding."

Piper now spoke, she was as confused as the rest of them. "Wait, if there is now power, how are we staying up?"

Stork spoke as he continued trying various restart procedures. "Emergency chemical based thrusters. Put them together myself after that whole Black Gorge thing. I designed them to lift off, or keep us up, if we ever had lost power. But, they'll only last a couple of minutes. Should have been enough time to restore power under normal circumstances, but I can't get any response out of any thing.

Piper looked outside, The Cyclonian cruisers were going down fast, no power could be seen anywhere on them. "That wave must have neutralized all crystal power in the area." She looked towards the citadel in front of them, the wave had just passed through it, it was completely dark. Then she realized the point of all of this. "Cyclonis' crystal heart! Stryker wants this wave to depower her heart, and he used us as a convenient sacrifice."

Stork stopped flipping switches and pulling levers. "Well we may still be a sacrifice." He looked at the all, no hope in his eyes. "I can't restore power, and the thrusters will be out of juice pretty soon. Thirty seconds at best, then we will fall too."

Aerrow was trying to keep his confidence, he needed to be strong for his team. "We need options, now!"

Stork grabbed a box from beside a console. He opened it quickly and brought out four items that looked like book bags. "Everyone come here." Stork said as he moved to the center of the bridge. His voice carried a strong sense of urgency, so everyone gathered quickly. He gave each of the one of the packs, and went back towards the flight console. "Put them on, now!"

After they had put on the packs, Piper looked over at Stork. "What are these things?"

"Glider packs. Make sure to pull the cord at the peak of the jump." He was speaking quickly now.

Piper looked at him suspiciously. "Wait, where's yours?"

Stork looked back at her, a slight grin on his face. "Silly Piper. Someone has to pull the lever."

Realizing where they were standing, Piper quickly jumped forward just as Stork pulled the lever down. Her pack snagged on the rising platform and ripped off. Three slightly confused teenage males, one Radaar and a ripped bag were then flung from the bridge of The Condor.

Stork stared at her, anger rising to his face. "Why did you do that!?"

Piper just looked right back at him. "I could ask you the same question! I'm not just going to leave you here to go down with the ship!"

Stork was about to yell something back at her, but was interrupted by a loud sputtering sound. He looked over at a small gauge, it read 'empty' like he figured it would.

Piper tried to remain calm. "Come on Stork, reset the platform, and grab another pack for me _**and**_ you. We can still make it."

Stork just looked at her, another small grin on his face. "It's almost funny." He let out a small laugh, the view through the window behind him was now starting to point downward. "Piper, listen, I had only made up those four packs so far, there are no more packs. All our parachutes are in the hanger, which is still locked. The platform may be spring loaded but the reset mechanism is powered by crystals. So it look like you and me are taking a quick trip straight down."

Piper was starting to panic again, the floor had pitched forward enough now that she was forced forward. Stork grabbed her as she was going past. Out the window, the ground was rushing up at them.

Piper looked at Stork. "Is there anything left that we can do."

Stork looked at her straight in the eye. "Only one." He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry Piper" He then hugged her close. They hit the ground and darkness surrounded them both.

...

Aerrow found himself suddenly flying through the air, confused as to how he got there. He felt himself slow and then remembered what Stork said. He quickly pulled the cord on his pack and a pair of loosely stitched together wings came out to form a small glider. He looked over and saw Finn and Junko had managed to deploy theirs with no problem. He looked around for Stork and Piper, but couldn't spot them.

"Where are Stork and Piper?" He yelled over to Finn.

"I think Piper dove off the platform before we were lauched," Finn yelled back, he looked back at The Condor. "I'm sure they'll be off it in a second."

They continued gliding towards the craggy ground of Terra Cyclonia, Aerrow looked back as he heard a loud sputtering noise. And then he saw The Condor start to fall. He looked over at Finn and Junko. "Did they get off yet?"

"I don't know." Junko said.

They all kept looking back as The Condor fell, they didn't see anyone else getting off. They got close enough now to the ground to land, careful not to get caught on any of the sharp rocks.

After landing Aerrow looked back up at their falling home, still no sign of his friends.

And then, The Condor, hit the ground.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Aerrow screamed out. He fell to his knees, tears forming in his eyes.

Finn came up beside him. "Aerrow!" He knelt down in front of his friend, putting his hands on Aerrow's shoulders. "Calm down Aerrow. We don't know if they were still there when it went down. None of us had a a constant look at it as we were gliding. They could have gotten out and we just didn't see." He looked his friend straight in the eye. "They could still be alive, just keep faith in your friends. Now come on, we have to move, right? We can't stay out here in the open."

Aerrow pulled himself together and stood up. "Your right Finn." He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. "We have to move. The Talons, even with out crystals, are still dangerous, and might be looking for us. Let's go." He turned and the started to make their way for cover, moving in the direction of the powerless citadel.

Finn was glad Aerrow was able to pull himself back together. He was also glad Aerrow was in front of him and couldn't see his face. He knew his friends hadn't gotten off The Condor, it was written on his face, but he couldn't let Aerrow, their leader, lose hope. He wiped the tears from his eyes, and motioned for Junko to do the same.

They needed to move.

...

He felt something break in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out the shattered remains of a small crystal. A large smile now crossed his face. His aide was standing next to him, and noticed the broken crystal. "Was that important, sir?"

"Very." Stryker said, his smile didn't leave his face. "It's a sign."

"A sign of what, sir?" Stryker's confused aide asked.

"Many things." Stryker responded, then proceeded to count them off. "That I am a genious. That certain annoying obstacles have been removed from my skies. And, most importantly, we are on the verge of the greatest victory in all history." He began to laugh now, loudly, startling his aide.

Stryker looked out from the command deck of his personal carrier. To his left and right were four other carriers similar to his own, gold and white in color. Behind these ships were seven Sky Knight squadrons. All ready for battle as they now entered Cyclonian territory.

* * *

Well, here we are again at the end of one of my longer chapters. Only this time, no Beeps. I'm sure some of you have some things to say now, and I'm willing to feel your love, or even your hate for this chapter. Reviewing is the only way I'll know. So til next time boys and girls, see ya.

P.S. Sorry for how long it took to get this out, busy work and games a calling me down from my keyboard. Hope to have tthe next chapter out soon.


	8. Ch7 Motives and Machinations

Seems to be longer and longer times in between when I can work on this, but I really want to finish this so I can move on to another story I'm thinking about. But, that doesn't mean we are close to an ending yet, I want to hold at the drama a little longer. So, when we last left the Storm Hawks, thing weren't going well. The Condor has crashed into Terra Cyclonia, with Stork and Piper still onboard. Finn, Junko and Aerrow are on the ground and seeking shelter. So what happens now? Sadly you won't find out just yet. This chapter is dedicated to a man and his motives.

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Motives and Machinations

Stryker always wanted to be a hero. His boyhood dreams were filled with thoughts of flying through the skies on adventures to numerous to count. He would hear stories of Sky Knights fighting the scourge of Cyclonia, the heated dogfights in the skies drove his imagination. He would listen to the same stories over and over, placing himself in the stories, fighting next to his heroes. His favorite team to hear about was, of course, the Storm Hawks. It was his dream, when he became old enough, to join them.

And then the dark day came, a day that many remember, when the Storm Hawks fell. He was heart broken, his dreams destroyed the moment he heard the tale of the greatest of squadrons falling from the betrayal of one of their own. He was only six months away from legal age to petition a squadron for membership. It didn't matter anymore though, their was no team he had wanted more than the Storm Hawks.

He began to see things differently from that day forward. A single squad, even one as great and talented as the Storm Hawks, wasn't enough to take on the might of The Cyclonian Empire. Squadrons had also been famous for not working together smoothly, each preferring their own tactics and style. What was needed was a united force to counter the army of Cyclonia. Only someone with his vision could bring about this change, to lead the charge.

He started by forming his own squadron under the name of The Atmosian Guard. He refused to be assigned to a terra though, stating that his squadron would serve all Atmos equally. He then began to expand his forces, far beyond the numbers of any other squadron. It took six years to gather the funds and men he felt was necessary to be a counter Cyclonia's forces. He appointed himself the title of Sky General, and brought his forces before The Sky Council to seek approval to battle Cyclonia and bring justice to The Atmos.

He met with a mixed response. The Sky Council felt that an out right war with Cyclonia would only bring disaster. Cyclonia itself had gotten quieter with rumors spreading that Cyclonis himself was in failing health. The Sky Council did agree however to allow his Stryker's squadron to acknowledged as a reserve force directly under The Sky Council's authority. This allowed Stryker more authority in the goings on of The Atmos, but stopped him from pursuing his goals of mobilizing his forces against Cyclonia. He resigned himself to his current role, he knew sooner or later he would bring his full force down on Cyclonia, he just had to wait.

A year later he received intel that Cyclonis had finally succumbed to his illness and had passed away. Stryker saw an opportunity to bring down Cyclonia. He knew that the only heir was Cyclonis' daughter, and she was only eleven. This was the time to strike, while Cyclonia forces had no leadership. He once again brought up the plan to launch a full scale invasion into Cyclonia. Just as before though, The Sky Council turned down his request. They stated that even though Cyclonis was dead, Dark Ace was still there and could command their forces. Then Stryker came up with a secondary plan to have an assassin sneak in and kill Cyclonis' heir, since it would still be easy to slip in while they were distracted. The Sky Council was horrified at the idea of killing a child, such a thing was to horrible to consider. Stryker then proposed that he would send his most loyal subordinate and that all records would be sealed. No one need know, this was the only chance to assure peace by ending the Cyclonis line.

After careful consideration, and many heated discussion behind closed doors, approval was given for Stryker's plan. Stryker finally began to feel victory was in his grasp. He wanted to go and carry out the plan himself, but decided to stay behind and send his most loyal and highly trained man instead. After all, he was far to important to risk if things went badly. After a week of no word from the assassin, the body was recovered. Stryker's plan had apparently failed, and he had lost face with The Sky Council. He tried again to launch an attack, but the council would hear none of it.

He was able to keep his forces and his position, but his duties were relegated down to basic intelligence gathering and reserve force. It was while he was preforming these minor duties that he met an unfortunate sky knight who had just lost her squadron. Starling was ready to serve and felt she had nothing to lose anymore. She was perfect for an infiltration mission into Cyclonia to gather intelligence first hand. Stryker felt that this may be his chance at getting back into the council's good graces.

However, another event arose to to give Stryker a chance to regain glory. The Aurora Stone had been stolen and all the sky knight squadrons had been defeated. Stryker was summoned by The Sky Council to form his forces together and prepare an assault on Cyclonia. At last, this was his chance to prove what he had set out to do in the first place, to defeat Cyclonia and assure his place in history. But, fate can be cruel, no sooner had he brought his forces together and was preparing to launch, a small group of immature fools had returned saying they had destroyed The Aurora Stone. Starling herself vouched for them, stating it was the only way to save everyone. Stryker was furious, they dared to rob him of his chance at glory, and they carried the name of the very squadron he had idealized in his youth, Storm Hawks.

Stryker went before The Sky Council and demanded that the Storm Hawks have their registration revoked for destroying the Aurora Stone. The council then reminded Stryker that The Storm Hawks were not an official squadron and therefore not under the council's control, and that they felt that it was the best course of action given the circumstances. Stryker was outraged but kept his anger in check. Everything was not a complete loss though, Starling had managed to obtain some of Cyclonia's database. It was just a matter of time till it was decrypted and Stryker would have another chance, He just had to bide his time a little longer.

Over the course of the next several months the, Storm Hawks had begun building a heroic reputation through their various adventures. All the while, Stryker waited patiently for the information to be decrypted. Then finally, a month before current events, the code was cracked. It was then that Stryker learned that the information was incomplete, but they still learned some interesting things. The mission had been a success, Cyclonis had a miraculous resurrection, and an interesting new device schematic.

After having his personal scientists research the plans it was discovered to be a type of shielding device. It's properties borrowed from leech crystals, absorbing any crystal energy that came in contact with the generated field. The only problem is, once the device has absorbed a certain level of power it overloads. The result is a field that generates out from the device itself and expands out in all directions over a distance of one square mile, completely negating any crystal energy it comes in contact with including ship it generates from. Obviously, any ship that used this would endanger itself and surrounding ships, as well as any terra it might be near. And that is when Stryker's mind began formulating a plan.

He would bring up the new information on Cyclonis to the Sky Council and suggest that the Storm Hawks would be perfect for the plan, given their previous successes against Clyclonis and infiltrating the her citadel. Then while he had the Storm Hawks distracted in the briefing, a group of his loyal highly trained engineers would plant the device onto their carrier. The Storm Hawks merb pilot was known to have various safety and trap protocols in place, they could use those against them. And to top it off, a small pulse transmitter to transmit a signal to a small crystal to keep him aware of of close they were to their doom. Then swoop in with armada, _sadly_ to late to save the poor Storm Hawks, and defeat a defenseless Cyclonia in one fell swoop. Of course, as The Atmos' newest hero, he would give a tearfull speach at theStorm Hawks funereal.

This was his moment to shine, to get rid of Cyclonia and these wannabe Storm Hawks, and to be a hero to all Atmos. Everything was according to his plan now. He stared out from his command deck now at a powerless Cyclonia. Looking down he could see the wreckage of two Cyclonian carriers and The Condor. Everything was perfect. He looked around at his loyal crew, out the window at his own fleet, and prepared to give the order to fire on the powerless citadel before them.

He was preparing to speak when the lights started turning back on in the citadel. Stryker was dumbfounded. "What's happening!?"

A crew member stationed at one of the scanning readouts started yelling out the readings on the screen. "Sir, power is coming back up in the citadel!"

"I can see that!" Stryker yelled at the young crewmen. "Why is it coming back on!?"

The young crewmen said nothing, he didn't know what to say. Stryker went as close to the viewing window as he could and stared out at the citadel before him. At the peak of the tower he could see a thin figure holding a staff, face hidden by a cowl.

Stryker felt fear rise up from within him. _Cyclonis!? _Stryker thought in a frantic mind, unable to speak. _She should have died from the wave robbing her heart of energy._

"Orders sir!?" One of the frightened crewmen asked, everyone caught off guard by the current stuation was suddenly unsure of what to do.

Stryker just stood there, staring out the the hooded figure. The figure raised it's hand, all the sentry turrets were now turning to target Stryker's ships.

"Sir! Your orders!?"

The cowl pulled back revealing the face Stryker already knew it to be, Cyclonis with a smile on her face. She brought her hand down and all turret began firing at Stryker's armada. The sky knight squadrons behind began taking evasive maneuvers while Stryker's ships didn't move. The first volley hit, snapping Stryker out of his trance.

"RETURN FIRE!" Stryker yelled.

The battle had begun.

* * *

Well, not a lot of dialogue in that chapter, but I hope you can understand that I felt a bit of back story was needed. If you agree, tell me, if you don't, please tell me. Your the audience so you matter. I'm already working on the next chapter, couple days tops, maybe sooner. Till next time everybody.


	9. Ch8 Into The Maw of Madness

I really wanted this chapter to come out a lot sooner, but little things becomes major things and stop all your side stuff. Anyway, time to catch up to the Storm Hawks, or whats left of them anyway, as they try to survive on an enemy terra. Remember, events here take place before the events in the last chapter.

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Into The Maw of Madness

Aerrow, Junko, Radarr, and Finn now found themselves racing across the craggy and sharp edged surface of Terra Cyclonia. The were searching for any kind of cover they could use to keep them out of sight until they could form a plan. Aerrow was in front of the other two, looking around for both any sign of Talons and suitable cover. He paused for a moment to look back at what had once been his home.

It lay there, the two main pontoons smashed in from the head first crash into the terra. Everything about it look more dented and broken than it had been since he and his friends had first found it and worked to put it back in the sky where it belonged. Smoke rose out of various points of the ship, adding even more to its already desperate appearance.

Finn came up beside him and put his hand on Aerrow's shoulder. "Dude, we can't stop now."

Aerrow let a small sigh as he took a final look at the remains of his home. He turned around and began to pick up the pace towards a small cave that he could see off in the distance. It had a large outcropping above it that would keep it out of sight from anyone looking down from the citadel overhead. It would have to do till they could figure out the next move.

As they got closer to the cave though, Aerrow noticed it looked less and less like a cave. It was perfectly round and seemed more like it had been cut into the side of the rock. Approaching it now, he could see metal all round the edges of the opening. He stepped up to the opening and peered inside to get a better look. All that he could see was metal all along the round walls, and it extended far and at an angle going down out sight.

He turned to look at his team. "Any thoughts guys?"

Junko got closer and took a look. "I'd say it's an exhaust shaft for one of the crystal reactors that power this place."

"More like did." Finn chimed in. "Stryker's little present took care of that."

"Ya." Junko said as he steeped away from the opening. "We wouldn't even be able get close to this if it were on with all the super heated air being pumped out."

Aerrow started thinking about how they could use this, and he already had the beginnings of a plan floating in his head. "Alright, Here's what we're gonna do." He looked at his friends to make sure he had their attention before he continued. "We're going to go down this exhaust shaft and infiltrate the base. We look for anything useful, who knows, maybe not all energy crystals were sucked dry by that wave. We might be able to..."

Finn interrupted him before he could continue. "We might be able to what? Get some crystals together, repair the Condor, and fly happily back home?" He gave Aerrow a look that showed his disdain at Aerrow's plan. "We are in the middle of Cyclonia with no working weapons. We are down all our skimmers, The Condor and two friends."

"We don't know that for sure yet Finn. They could have gotten off the Condor before it crashed." Aerrow retorted, his voice betrayed him though as it lacked it's usual confident tone.

"We are all watching Aerrow! Neither of them jumped off!" Finn was yelling now, the desperateness of the situation starting to wear on him. "Their gone, and sorry to sound like Stork here, but we are as good as doomed!"

"I'm just trying to do something Finn!" Aerrow yelled out, his voice cracked a little as he yelled, tears could be seen forming in the corners of his eyes. He quickly wiped his eyes before continuing. "Listen, that field, whatever it was, wiped out power on our ship and everything around it. But it didn't look like it covered all of Cyclonia. There may be some workable crystals left further in. If we get some, we can take some skimmers and fly out of here."

It was Junko's turn to voice a concern. "What about all the Talons inside?"

Aerrow thought for a second then continued. "I'm pretty sure their all scrambling around a bit confused about what to do. If we just get some disguises we can just blend in. Everyone will be to busy trying to get things working again to notice us."

Finn was still skeptical. "But what if we don't find any crystals?"

"I don't know Finn." Aerrow confessed, he still sounded confident but his face showed his worry. "I'm already grasping at straws with this plan. And it's better than sitting out here for however long it takes for some to either rescue or capture us. So..." Aerrow looked at his friends, confidence now showed on his face again. "You guys up for this?"

Radarr was the first to chime in, giving an affirming chirp as he jumped to perch on Aerrow's shoulders.

Junko cracked his knuckles. "Like you said, it's better than standing around doing nothing." A loud grumble sounded from Junko's stomach. "Besides, maybe we'll find something to eat while we're in there."

Finn let out a sigh as he looked Aerrow in the eye. "You know I'm in Bro." He clapped his hand on Aerrow's shoulder. His usually cocky smile spreading across his face "Like I would actually let you guys go in there with The Finn-ster to help bail you out when you get into trouble."

Aerrow let a smile cross his own face, then turned to look at the next problem at hand, the exhaust pipe. "So all we gotta do is follow this pipe down into a powered down reactor, hoping it stays that way long enough for us to infiltrate enemy territory. We will be surrounded on all sides by enemies who hopefully won't notice us because of needing to deal with their own problems. We get in find something we can use the get out again. Simple right?" He looked at his friends, they all had nervous looks on their faces.

Finn finally broke the tension. "So who wants to go in first?"

"Guess that would be me." Aerrow said as he stepped into the opening of the pipe."Remember guys, when we get in there and get disguises on, act like your confused and panicked."

"Trust me." Finn said as he followed Aerrow into the pipe. "I don't think that will be a problem."

Junko followed next with Radaar scurrying around their feet.

They began to make their way down the shaft, light slowly fading around them as they got farther from the opening. Aerrow's mind was filled with thoughts of how this could go wrong, how it could go right. But, mostly his thoughts kept going back to one thing. His two friends who had still been on the Condor when it crashed. He hoped Finn was wrong. he hoped they had made it off in time and that they were okay.

He had no way of knowing just how wrong he was, and how much worse the situation was going to get.

* * *

So they we are, short chapter I know, but I felt i needed to get something out there before you all forgot about me. Anyway, hope to get some good, or bad, reviews. Any are welcome. Till next time.


	10. Ch9 Emerging from Darkness

So, quick recap, Aerrow and company are infiltrating a depowered Cyclonian headquarters via an exhaust shaft. Stryker is en route to finish off Cyclonia with a fleet of ships. And, The Condor has crashed into Terra Cyclonia while both Stork and Piper were still on board. Things are looking grim...

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Emerging from Darkness

Aerrow, Finn, Junko and Radaar found themselves in darkness as they moved along the exhaust shaft. The slick surface of shaft made at hard at times to keep their footing. Several times Finn had fallen and had trouble getting up.

"Dude, do they ever clean these things?" Finn complained in his usual tone after having slipped and fallen for the fifth time. "I mean, there's like grime and soot everywhere. Don't get me started on the smell."

Junko helped him up. "They keep these reactors running non-stop, Finn. They wouldn't be a time when super heated exhaust isn't flowing out this shaft. We're lucky to not have to worry about them restarting the reactors while we're in here."

Finn let out a quick, sarcastic, laugh as he regained his footing. "Yeah, lucky us."

Aerrow was in front of the group, with Radaar perched on his shoulder, he stayed quiet while still thinking to himself about what to do next once they had reached the reactor. He couldn't keep his thoughts focused, they kept shifting back to his memories of seeing The Condor crash with two of his friends still on it. Unfortunately. the mixture of him being lost in thought, and the complete darkness around them, he failed to notice the the ground beneath him suddenly declined. He immediately fell forward and, without thinking, he grabbed back to reach for Junko. But, the slippery surface of the shaft only caused Junko to fall forward with him, as well as Finn who had been leaning on Junko for support.

"AAAAAAGH!" they all screamed in unison as they now found themselves sliding down the steep shaft. It was completely dark, but further below them they could see some kind of light quickly rushing up at them.

"Oh man!" Fin yelled in between the screams. "This is gonna be a rough landing." He then went back to his usual high pitched scream.

The next moment the found themselves shooting out into an open, but still mostly dark, area. They all landed in a pile with Junko having found himself on top.

Both Finn and Aerrow groaned under Junko's weight."Ah, sorry guys." Junko said as he quickly stood up. Aerrow and Finn were quick to get up as well. Junko looked around, taking in their surroundings. Looking around they found themselves in an open area with really nothing in it. The same dirt and grime lined the walls that had been in the shaft. Small traces of light leaked through four viewing holes on the ceiling of the chamber. Several spots on the walls and were open with other shafts similar to the one they had just fallen out of.

"Seems that we're in one of the reactors side venting chambers now." Junko stated looking at Aerrow.

"Great." Finn said as he rubbed his shoulder on the spot where he landed. "Now how do we get on the outside of this cozy little place?"

Junko thought for a second. "Well, these places really aren't designed to be accessed from the inside, but there should be an entrance port somewhere." Looking around Junko spotted a rectangular hatchway. "There we are, now just to open it."

Junko walked to the hatch, looking close he didn't see any latch or handle to turn so he could open it. "Guess we do this the Wallop way." Junko said, he then cracked his knuckles and drew back his fist. He quickly punched the hatch, in response to his superior strength, the hatch flew open and off it's hinges.

"Good work Junko." Aerrow said patting the Wallop on the shoulder. "Hope nobody heard that." He quickly looked at his friends. "Beyond here we have to be careful. We don't know what to expect, but at least all the Cyclonians are in the same bat as us with no weapons crystals. But, I'd say we're more than a match for them in a fist fight." He then turned toward the hatch. "Storm Hawks! Let's move."

They climbed out the hatch into another open area, this one looking more like a traditional engineering room. They quickly moved across the room to the entrance and opened the door. What they saw when they opened the door, however, was something they completely didn't expect.

They were all speechless, except for Finn. "Dude, this is so weak."

**...**

The Condor, smashed and torn, lay smoking on the craggy terrain of Terra Cyclonia. The bridge was a bleak scene. Consoles and various objects laid strewn about over the floor, many broken from the impact of the crash. Glass was scattered about on the floor from the windows breaking. And the most radical change had happened to the steering controls.

Where there once was various levers and a steering wheel, as well a Merb and a young girl, there was only a giant white column from floor to ceiling. The surface of the column was rough and uneven, like the surface of a dried sponge. The air around it was beginning to form a light mist, along with several cracks starting to appear on the surface. Muffled noises started to pour out of the cracks.

"_Move your shoulder!" _One voiced yelled out.

"_I can already feel it starting to dislocate. Besides, your knee is dangerously close to making me sing soprano!" _The other voice chimed back.

"_Well maybe you shouldn't have grabbed me so quickly. It startled me, and whatever this stuff is has my leg kind of stuck there_."

"_Hang on." _a couple of grunts could be heard as more cracks began to appear on the surface of the column. Then with one final grunt a green hand broke threw the surface.

"There." Stork said as he pulled his hand back. "It looks like we can finaly break out of our little cocoon. Just push around you and it should start to give way. On three we'll push out together. One...Two..."

With a loud yell, Piper kicked out with both arm and legs, shattering the all the material that was surrounding both her and Stork.

Stork looked around nervously. "Uh...Three." He laughed nervously.

Piper regained her composure after having to exert herself, then quickly looked at Stork. "What exactly was that stuff?"

"Impact foam." Stork began to explain. "Stored under pressure, designed to release on an impact exceeding speeds that would surely kill a normal person. Foam shoots from both floor and ceiling to encase anyone standing at the flight controls protecting them while at the same time creating a support structure to keep the space from collapsing."

"Why just you?" Piper asked as she began looking around at the damage on the bridge.

"Well I figured most of you would have had the common sense to have evacuated the ship before any kind of major crash." Stork shot back at her. Stork then began to take in his surroundings, much to his own horror. "AAAAAAAGH!"

Stork began running around the bridge fiddling with various instruments, avoiding broken glass, and trying to reattach consoles to where they once were. It wasn't going well. Eye twitch in gull gear, Stork was on the verge of of suffering another case of sky shock. Piper quickly grabbed Stork to try and calm him down.

"Stork!" She yelled at the the trembling Merb "Calm down!"

Stork quickly shook free of her grip. "Don't just grab me like that. Can't you see in trying to have a nervous breakdown here!?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Hey, you didn't have any problem grabbing me just as we were about to crash."

"Ya, but that was just to make sure we were both in the area where we would both be covered by the foam." Stork shot back at her.

"Well maybe if you weren't so secretive about all the things you have stored around here for emergencies I would have known you'd be okay and happily been ejected into the sky with everyone else. Instead, I get stuck with the most paranoid person in the Atmos inside a smelly cocoon!"

"Well excuse me for saving your life!" Stork yelled back. "I'm sorry we can't all smell as heavenly as you!"

"I meant the foam smelled, not..." Piper stopped, she wasn't sure what she just heard. "Wait, what did you just..."

"Shhh..." Stork cut her off as his ears perked up. "I hear something." He moved to the front of the bridge and peered out where into the sky through the broken window. Just as quickly as he had stuck his head out, he pulled it back in, a look of dread on his face.

Piper walked up to him. "What is it?"

Stork looked at her, his face a shade of pale green. "Talons."

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Boom, double wammy on the cliffhangers. Maybe I over did it? You tell me. Reviews of all types are appreciated. The more I get, the quicker I'll probably turn out the next chapter to let you know what happens next. Till next time, see ya.


	11. Ch10 Dimming Hope

Okay, been a bit since I last updated. Hope I didn't lose any readers, but sometimes things pile up. I feel determined to finish this chapter. And away we go...

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Heart of Darkness...Dimming Hope

Both Piper and Stork stared up into the sky. They saw two Talons on their sky rides escorting a small cargo vessel. They were still a bit off in the distance, but they were getting closer and lower to the ground. It was obvious that they were preparing to to land. Piper and Stork quickly ducked back into the remains of The Condor.

Panic was already beginning to grip Stork. "We're dead!" He yelled as he began to retreat into the nearest corner of the bridge. "They're gonna land and blast us while we're defenseless, and then we'll be dead!"

Piper quickly rushed to Stork's side to try and calm the anxious Merb. "Stork calm down." She paused as she heard the sound of vehicles landing on the ground just next to their broken home. She knew there wasn't much time before the climbed up to enter through the smashed windshield of the bridge. She saw her staff laying just across the room under a slightly smashed chair. She knew the crystal would be worthless, but she could still hold her own own with just the staff.

She turned back the Stork. _He won't be to useful in his current state, _Piper thought to herself. She reached out and grabbed Stork by the shoulders, firm enough to stop his shaking but not not so hard as to hurt him. "Stork! I need you to go to the rear of The Condor and hide."

Stork looked straight at her, he stopped shaking for a second, but his eye twitch was still going. "But what about the Cyclonians?"

Piper took a breathe before explaining her plan. "I'll fight them, make them believe I'm the only one on board, then lead them away." She walked over to where her staff lay and quickly pulled it free of the wreckage. "Then when I'm far enough away, you sneak out and go to try and find Aerrow."

Stork eye stopped twitching as he now looked Piper straight in the eye, an almost resolve seemed to be show as he spoke. "What about you though? I'm not about to leave you behind to play the bait."

Piper let a smirk cross her face. "Have a little confidence in me. Talons don't stand a chance against me even on their best days." She turned back to the front as she heard sounds of grunting and scraping metal. The Cyclonians were coming. "Go hide Stork, I'll be fine."

Stork stood up and went to the half open entry way that led to the rear of the ship. He paused and turned back to Piper opening his mouth to speak. Piper just turned her back to him, focusing on the opening in front of her. "Now Stork." She said firmly, readying her staff.

Stork took one last quick look at her before heading through the door to the rear of the ship. _Please Piper, _Stork thought to himself as he moved, _don't do anything stupid for my sake. Just stay safe._

Piper felt relief now that Stork was safe out of sight. She now focused all her attention on where the windshield used to be. She could hear the Cyclonians just outside now. She tensed all her muscles while taking in a slow breath, she pulled in as much air as she could and held it, then slowly let it out. A pair of hands reached up and grabbed the edge of the opening and Piper could hear a grunt as Talon started pulling himself up into view. Piper charged forward just as the Talon had gotten himself waist high onto the ledge. The Talon raised his head just in time to se Piper firmly place a kick directly to his jaw, sending him flying back to land a yard behind his companions on the main deck of the ship. Piper was standing in the light now and could see there was a total of six Talons.

_One down, five to go. _Piper thought to herself as she took in the situation around her. _Gonna be tough, but I can manage._

She readied herself as the Talons were now scrambling to ready their weapons to fire at her. She quickly jumped down onto a Talon directly below her, using the force of her fall, she quickly swiped him across the face with her staff. He collapsed onto the deck, unconscious.

_That's two. _Piper smirked as she looked over to four remaining Talons. _This might be easier than I thought._

That Talons aimed their energy staffs at her and began to open fire. Piper quickly began to dodge while moving towards the closest Talon. Energy blasts moving all around her Piper was striving to remain calm as she danced around the energy blasts. She knew that a moment of hesitation could mean the end for her. She closed the distance between herself and the Talon before her. He tried swinging his staff around to catch her across the face. But, Piper quickly jumped up and caught the staff under her arm while simultaneously swinging her own staff around to hit him on the neck. The Talon cried out in pain and let go of his staff. Piper quickly twirled away from the Talon, while keeping hold of both staffs. She quickly flipped the Talon's staff around and released an energy blast at the still dazed Talon, knocking him to the ground.

_Three, _Piper quickly noted to herself as she dashed out of the path of more energy blasts from the remaining conscious Talons. The Talons paused for a second to look at their downed comrades, then looked back at Piper. A nervous aura now radiated off them, and Piper picked up on it.

"You guys are making this too easy." Piper said, confidence poured out of her as she spoke. "Your lucky it's just me here, and not the rest of my squad, or you guys would all be out by now." A smile crossed her face as she began to twirl both her own staff and the one she had taken off the Talon. She put herself into a battle stance and prepared to charge again at the nervous Talons. "Did you guys really think you stood a chance?" Piper said as she readied herself for the next assault.

The three Talons stood in a line facing her, their staffs still at the ready. Their backs were to the front of the the hanger door just below the open bridge. It was then that Piper noticed the hole on the surface of the Hanger door just to the left of the Talons. It looked like the crash had sheered some of the bolts holding one of the cargo door panels in place. Piper's eyes widened as she realized what this meant. _Oh GOD, Stork! _She thought to herself in a quiet panic.

The middle Talon, who seemed to be the squad leader, noticed her sudden shift of emotion. He let out a slight laugh. "No, we weren't really meant to stop you, just be a long enough distraction."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

A loud yell of fear came from inside Condor. Something was suddenly thrown from the bridge down onto the deck a few feet behind Piper, it landed with a loud thud. It took a moment for Piper to make out the collapsed form of Stork.

"STORK!" Piper yelled out as she dropped both of her weapons and quickly made her way over to Stork's crumbled form. She quickly checked for a pulse as her own raced higher. She let out a small sigh as she found his, but he was heavily injured and she saw blood smeared across his face and his uniform torn at his shoulder revealing a heavy gash.

From the darkness of the bridge she heard an all to familiar laugh. "Oh, I hope i did break him." The sarcastic voice said as a figure now began to appear through the shattered windshield on the bridge. It hovered out into the light, the face hidden behind a cowl which now began to open. Piper already knew who it was before they had even hovered out into the light.

"Cyclonis." Piper said with as much anger in her voice as she could muster, but her voice came out weak from choking back tears that had begun to from in her eyes. She looked down at Stork, he was hurt and unconscious, and she felt responsible. _I failed to keep you safe, I'm sorry._ She put a hand on his shoulder and tried her best to keep hold of herself as she looked back up at Cyclonis, rage was building up inside her and it made her shake a little.

"Come, come now Piper." Cyconis said in her usual arrogant tone as she floated closer to Piper, landing on the deck just a few feet from Piper. "No need to get so angry. He's not dead." A small smirk crossed her face. "At least, not yet." She held out her staff, the purple crystal on the end glowing with Malicious intent. "Now, if you want to stay with the living a little longer, I suggest a peaceful surrender."

Cyclonis glanced over her shoulder at her remaining Talons, giving them a disapproving look. "Bind her and her little Merb pet. We must return quickly to The Citadel." She looked back at Piper. "No doubt we have other guests to entertain." She then looked off into the horizon, another dark smile crossing her face. "And more on the way."

She let out a small laugh as her Talons advanced on Piper and began to bind her wrists and tie up Stork.

All Piper could do was watch and hope that Aerrow and the rest were okay, and pray that they would stay that way. The day seemed to darken as she was pushed towards the small freighter. Her hope dying with the light.

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Whew, feels good to get another chapter done. Hope to get some feed back soon so I know if there anything I can improve on. Til next time.


	12. Ch11 Rumble

Fun holiday for me, and I hope sincerely that everyone enjoyed theirs. So, for the New Year I present you a new chapter, enjoy. That's an order.

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Heart of Darkness...Rumble

Aerrow and his friends stared at the horrifying sight in front of them. The hallway was packed with at least twenty Talons, all of them were brandishing staff weapons. At the head of the group was none other than _The_ Dark Ace himself, a small smile spreading across his face. "Hello Aerrow." He said as he began to raise his sword. A hint of light gleamed off the edge of the _very_ sharp blade catching Aerrow in the eye.

_Wait,_ Aerrow thought quickly as he began shaking off the shock and taking in the situation. _That's just a normal sword. _Quickly glancing at the other Talons and their staffs he noticed none of them had crystals, they were just normal weapons. Quickly, before Dark Ace began his lunge, Aerow grabbed the door and quickly slammed the hatch shut, engaging the lock. Aerrow could hear the sounds of Dark Ace cursing on the other side of the door, which brought a smal smile to his face.

"Dude," Finn began, panic seeping into his voice. " we are so boned."

Aerrow began looking around the room,searching for any other means of exit. Loud banging noises began erupting from the locked door. Aerrow wasn't sure just how strong the door was, but the bending of the locking bar with every _BANG _of the door told him he didn't have long. The only thing he could see was a small vent on the far side of the room, to small for any of them. _But not Radaar,_ Aerrow thought to himself as he looked over to his small, nervous and furried companion.

"Junko!" Aerrow yelled looking over at Junko who was currently helping keep Finn calm. "I need you to rip that vent out." Aerrow said as he pointed over to the vent.

Junko quickly hurried over to the vent and, with a small grunt, ripped the grate covering it free of the wall. "Hate to point out the obvious here Aerrow, but there's no way we're all fitting in there."

"I know Junko, but trust me, I have a plan." Aerrow quickly scooped up Radaar and took him over to the vent. Aerrow quickly placed the small Storm Hawk in the vent. Radaar looked at Aerrow, letting out a worried chirp. "It'll be okay buddy. I just need you to hide until the noise dies down then come find us." Aerrow quickly replaced the vent's grating over the opening. "Now go!"

Radaar only looked up at Aerrow, letting out a deviant chirp.

"Just go, now!" With this, though showing muh reluctance, Radaar disappeared into the shadows of the ventilation ducts.

Finn spoke up, tring to keep his voice above the noise of he banging. "Great for him, but what about us?"

Aerrow kept his attention on the door, the lock didn't have much longer. "We get captured."

Both Junko and Finn exchanged worried looks. Finn was more worried now tha before. "Care to run hat by me one more time?"

Aerrow kept his calm as he explained himself, the constant banging of the door reminding him of how little time was left. "We have no weapons and no way out. We're trapped..."

"Again." Finn interrupted.

"Yes, Finn, again." Aerrow continued. "Their are more of them then us, they have weapons and Dark Ace is with them. We just don't stand a chance." Aerrow finished flatly.

"Great confidence booster there O' Fearless Leader." Finn said, more sarcastically then as necessary. "So we just give up and get taken captive. Grea plan"

Aerrow let a smile cross his face, and then popped his knuckles. "Who said anything about just giving up. I plan to make those Talons work for it." Aerrow let out a deep breath, taking a ready stance as he did so.

Finn let a small smile cross his face. "I guess that's not to bad a plan. Right Junko?" He said as he pat his much larger friend on the shoulder.

"As my aunt always said, make them yodel for their share." Junko said, a small chuckle escaping his mouth as he bought up his fists.

"Exactly." Aerrow said, a surge of energy went up his spine from the feeling of having his friends next to him, ready for anything. "And think it goes without saying, dibs on Dark Ace."

"All yours." Finn said as he cracked his own knuckles, a small wince appearing on his face. "Wish I had a crossbow, punching is really gonna hurt my fingers and mess up my guitar playing."

"Can't get any worse." Junko said in his usual carefree tone.

A small laugh was shared between the three of them, the sound of which only drowne out by the banging of the door. Aerrowlooked at the lock, _Two more hits_. _**BANG. **One. **BANG.**_

_**"**_**NOW!"** Aerrow yelled as one last bang on the door popped it open. Talons began pouring into the room, staffs at the ready. Dark Ace was at the head of the pack, sword poised for a swing at Aerrow's head. Aerrow quickly closed the distance between the two of them, raising his arm to guard against Dark Ace's swing. He quickly caught Ace's wrist while still in mid-swing, and still using his momentum, brought up his fist to plow into Dark Ace's face. But, Dark Ace quickly countered by grabbing Aerrow's fist and, using his only option as both hands were occupied, headbutted Aerrow. Ace's forehead guard caught Aerrow just above his right eye, causing him to see a quick flash of stars across his vision.

He stumbled back, releasing his grip on Ace's sword arm. He regained his vision just in time to see Dark Ace lunging at him again. Aerrow knew didn't have time to block, instead he ducked under Ace's swing and grabbed him around the waist, forcing them both to the ground. The force of hitting the ground forced the sword from Ace's grip, he yelled a curse as it slid across the floor. The two of them rolled on the floor, exchanging body blows and grabbing at each other, each trying to get a firm grip on the other.

Around them, chaos filled the room. Finn was dodging as best he could as several Talons took swings at him with their staffs. He occasionally managed to hit one of them with a quick jab. But, more blows were being landed on him with every second, fatigue was beginning to set in. Junko was busy handling the remaining Talons who were all trying to dog-pile on him while a few were swiping at his knees with their staffs.

With a loud roar, Junko grabbed one of his attackers and threw him at Dark Ace, who was currently on top of Aerrow getting ready to deliver a heavy blow to his face. Dark Ace was knocked and sent rolling off of Aerrow. Unfortunately, he was sent rolling in the same direction as where his sword had slid. Ace quickly recovered his sword and regained his footing. Taking in his surroundings, Ace moved over to Finn, grabbing him by the shoulder and applying pressure to nerve bundle just at the base of the neck. Finn cringed in pain and collapsed to his knees. Ace placed his sword to Finn's neck then turned his head to Aerrow. "I don't think I need to say anything here now do I?" Ace said, his mouth forming a sneer after he spoke.

Aerrow Just looked at Ace and said nothing. He simply went to his knees and raised his hands behind his head. Junko collapsed on the ground behind him as the Talons that had been attacking Finn moved to subdue the wallop. Dark Ace nodded to one of the Talons behind Aerrow, the Talon's staff quickly swung down across the side of Aerrow's head.

The darkness surrounded Aerrow's sight as he began fading out. The last thing he heard before completely being enveloped by the dark was Dark Ace.

"You don't get to die yet, that would ruin the fun later." A small dark laugh echoed into Aerrow's mind as he completely lost consciousness.

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A small chapter with more to come shortly, looking forward to your reviews.


	13. Ch12 A Friendly Chat

Now that everyone is decently captured, let's continue. ;)

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Heart of Darkness...A Friendly Chat

In the hold of the cargo ship, Piper was bound to one the support struts. She was tied sitting with her back against the hull, her hands bound in front of her with her legs left free on the floor. Stork had been taken to one of the other compartments where, Piper hoped, they would at least stop his bleeding. Normally under these situations Piper would already be trying to free herself from her restraints, but she currently had someone silently watching her from under their cowl.

"What?" Piper said, she was uncomfortable enough without the icy stares from her captor. "At least say something about how silly we were for letting ourselves be caught in a trap. Gloat over how powerless we truly are under you might. Just say something instead of just staring at me."

"Why should I?" Cyclonis said in a tone that carried a hint of amusement. "I think you are quite already aware of all this. I'm just enjoying the sight of _you,_ someone who is usually so confident, powerless and defeated." She let out a small chuckle before continuing. "It really is almost too enjoyable."

Piper felt anger rising in her, she let it show on her face as she glared at Cyclonis. "Enjoy it while you can, because..."

Cyclonis quickly interrupted her, her cowl unfolding as she began to mimic Piper's voice in a mocking tone. "Because Aerrow's still out there, and he and the rest of our squad will find a way to defeat you." Cyclonis resumed her usual tone as she continued to make fun of Piper. "Oh please, don't you ever get tired of optimism. I'm sure your pilot isn't very optimistic right now." She said, letting out another small chuckle.

Anger flared in Piper, she pulled at her restraints but they held her firmly. "Where is he!? Are you at least treating his wounds!?"

"Now Piper, please try to remain calm. If you anger me, I might just have to go relieve my tension on some poor helpless _green _animal." Cyclonis said in almost a laugh.

Piper stilled herself but her anger remained, and it showed on her face. "So," Piper began, wanting to change the subject. "why haven't you taken us back to the citadel yet?"

Cyclonis sighed a little before answering. "It seems I was a little to rough on the Merb. Once he's stable enough, we'll go to the citadel and begin the real fun."

"What do you have planned?" Piper asked hoping to a t least get some information on the situation. "Judging by the fact that you weren't even on the terra and your complete lack of interest as to how you citadel is completely out of power, I'm guessing you knew this was coming. But why wouldn't you do anything to stop it? What do you gain from all this?"

"Come now Piper." Cyclonis said still with amusement in her voice. "Do you really think I'd ruin all the surprises I have in store for you. But, I will tell you that I knew about this plan long before the device had even been placed on your ship. Did you really think I wouldn't notice that some of my database had been compromised? I swear those silly Council members in Atmosia are senile if they think they were the only ones with spies working for them."

"So you have spies on Atmosia?" Piper said, she needed to find out as much she could in hopes that maybe she could learn the spies' indities.

"Oh come on Piper, don't be naive." Cyclonis said in a mocking tone. "I turned one of your greatest sky knights, Carver, to my side with barely any effort. Did you really think I wouldn't have more? Such pompous arrogance, you weak simple minded fools deserve you fate!" Cyclonis spit out the last sentence showing her disgust at the people of Atmosia.

"So what's your plan?" Piper asked, thinking that in anger Cyclonis might let something slip.

Cyclonis quickly regained her composure. She began to light caress one of the tall crates next to her. "Oh I have big plans for all the people of the Atmos." She said in a somewhat far off voice as she looked at the crate she was lightly stroking.

Piper felt the hint of something ominous with the large crate with the way Cyclonis was reacting with it. As she began looking around the hold of the ship she noticed that there were at least a dozen similar crates. Most were the same height, but some were skinnier and others a bit shorter with a couple huge ones in the back. But they all had similar characteristics. They were all made of the same material and design scheme. Painted black with red numbers stenciled on the side. They all also had a monitoring device of some kind, Piper wasn't familiar with the displays so she couldn't make out their purpose.

"So what's in the boxes?" Piper asked snapping Cyclonis out of whatever fantasy she was having while caressing one of the containers.

"As I said before Piper, why ruin the surprise." She said looking at Piper with a slight laugh. "Besides, you'll see _them _soon enough."

There was suddenly a loud chirp from the door to hold, breaking the tension in the room. The door slid open revealing one of the Talons Piper had fought with earlier. "Master Cyclonis!" He said with a quick salute while at attention.

Cyclonis's face showed her annoyance at the intrusion on the fun she was having at Piper's expense. "What is it!?" She barked at the Talon.

"Master Cyclonis, we have stabilized the Merb and are awaiting your order to take of and land on the Citadel." The now nervous Talon said while still attention.

A smile spread across Cyclonis's face. "Then take off, I was tired of waiting anyway." The Talon saluted again the quickly moved away from the door, which shut after he left. "Time to get things ready for the coming visitors." Cyclonis said with dark amusement.

"What are these other visitors? You mentioned them before outside when you took me prisoner?" Piper said with mild confusion.

"A fool of a man wishes to make a name for himself and his bringing others lesser idiots with him." Cyclonis began to explain, her cowl now beginning to re-fold up around her head, covering her face in shadow. "They think they have attained an easy victory that will earn them a place in history. But all that history wll remember of this day is that it was the beginning of Cyclonia's expansion and eventual victory over The Atmos."

Piper felt her heart sink, she didn't know what was going to happen now. She could only stare up at her captor as she felt the ship around lift off the ground to bring her and Stork into the belly of the beast. And in front of her she no longer simply saw Cyclonis. What she was evil. Evil that looked down at her with almost glowing eyes. A faint string of purple energy seemed to dance across Cyclonis's eyes, but before Piper could get a look closer Cyclonis turned towards to leave through the cargo hold's door which opened as she approached.

She stopped at the doorway and looked over her shoulder at Piper. "Don't worry Piper I won't kill him or you, at least not yet. You will live long enough to witness the end of Atmosia's days. And then, when I have grown tired of torturing you and your meddlesome crew, only then will allow you to die." With that she went through the door, letting it shut behind her.

Piper stared at the door, almost expecting Cyclonis to return. But she didn't, Piper was left there completely weakened by the emotional impact of everything Cyclonis had said. She simply stared at the containers around her. Whatever was in them, Piper knew it was only the beginning.

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Whew another chapter up and running. Might actually be able to keep these going pretty quickly now. Using a trick of listening to mood music to help me write. Review and let me know if helped. Later.


	14. Ch13 Bound

More and more mysteries remain to be solved in our tragic tale. But can the crew survive long enough to see the outcome? Let's continue and see for ourselves.

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Heart of Darkness...Bound

Aerrow started regaining consciousness, his head felt like it had been hit by a cruiser. He tried focusing his eyes, but he could barely make out any of his surroundings. There was barely light in his surroundings, what little there was came in from a slotted window on the far wall. He could roughly make two other shapes in the cell with him, one large and the other slim.

"Finn Junko?" He asked, hoping that they were in fact his friends.

"Guess sleeping beauty finally decided to wake up from his sweat dream." Finn said in a tone that had only about half the energy of his usual carefree tone.

As Aerrow's eyes began to adjust to the lack of light, he began to better make out Finn's features. Looking around him he could see that both he and Finn had regular restraints connecting their arms just above their heads. They were in a seated position across from each other on steel benches. Their feet were chained to the floor. Junko wasn't moving and had considerably more reinforced restraints on him. His arms were completely encased in long full-arm restraints, with similar restraints on his legs. A heavy measure of chain was secured around his midsection with the ends bolted into the wall.

"Could be worse." Finn began to add with a laughing tone. "You could have woken up to a horrible nightmare where we're all captured with no hope of escape...oh wait." Finn let a small laugh.

"Uhhh." Aerrow groaned, more from the pain in his head than Finn's lame joke. "Well I feel like a worn out punching bag. How are you two doing?"

"Well I'm better off than you two." Finn began, a worried tone carried in his voice. "At least they didn't knock me out cold. They pumped alot of sedative into Junko after bolting him in. The kept a weapon at your throat and mine while the did it, so he wouldn't resist."

"Well we're still alive, and that's something." Aerrow pointed out, trying to keep some hope alive. "Remember, Radaar, Piper and Stork are still out there. And every second we're alive means there is a chance we can escape."

"Yeah, guess your right." Finn sighed, no optimism in his voice. _Still haven't come to terms with it yet, huh? _Finn thought to himself as he leaned his hand back to look intently at the ceiling, the memory of The Condor, their home, crashing with their friends still on board. _But, Radaar is still out there, somewhere. Just don't know what a little guy like him is gonna be able to do._

"How long have I been out anyway?" Aerrow asked, his head still pounding from the knot he could feel on the back of his head.

"Without a clock in here I can't be sure. But, I'd say maybe a couple hours." Finn said while still staring at the ceiling.

"Well I guess it's time to wake up Junko then." Aerrow said, a slight grin on his face.

"Ummm, perhaps you didn't hear the part about they pumped him with sedative. I don't think he's gonna wake up for awhile." Finn said, bringing his stare back to Aerrow.

"C'mon Finn." Aerrow said in a slightly mocking tone. "How long have we known Junko. He eats way more than any other wallop we've seen. His metabolism has to be way higher than most. And, I'm guessing they gave him enough to knock out a regular wallop, but I bet Junko's already past it. So he's just asleep right now. All we need to do is wake him."

"That's a hard task even on a regular day." Finn remarked. "He usually only wakes up when he smell breakfast or we're under attack. Otherwise it's like trying to move a mountain. And the Cyclonians aren't attacking since they have all nice and wrapped up." Finn pulled his restraints with a heavy grunt to add emphasis to this. "And unless you happen to have a scrumptious feast in your pocket, I think we're still out of luck."

Aerrow rolled his eyes a bit before looking back at his friend. "Just follow my lead." Aerrow turned his attention to the bound wallop. "Junkoooo." Aerrow began with a soft tone. "It's time to eat. We got all your favorite foods. Sauteed sausages with slug butter. Greasy jelly frogs with a horseradish dip."

Finn started rolling his eyes away from his friend, doubting that anything could wake Junko. But' then he began hearing Junko's stomach growl. Quickly looking over at his friend, he could see drool starting to form from Junko's mouth. "Yeah, yum yum." Finn said excitedly as he tried to think of the nasty stuff that Junko loved to eat. "There's also a huge side order of crispy fried goo-beetles."

Junko began smacking his lips in a semi-awake state as his eyes started to open. Aerrow could see Junko quickly regain his sense as he looked quickly around with his ears perked. But, just as quickly, his ears drooped back down. "Awwww, there's no food here." Junko stated in a slightly depressed tone.

"Sorry about that Junko." Aerrow said as apologetically as he could. "We'll get you all that stuff when we get out of here though, I promise."

"It's okay." Junko said still with a depressed tone, more this time having to do with his surroundings. "Nice to see we're all still alive." Junko said with a grin.

"So," Finn began a relaxed tone. "All that's left to do is to hurry up and wait for out chance to escape." He let a long sigh as he let himself lean back against the wall.

"Well, I guess this is a good time to talk about something that has been bugging me" Junko began, but was quickly interrupted by Finn.

"Dude, we are not gonna talk about our feelings." Finn said in a flat tone. "Just not gonna happen"

"No, I mean about something I saw back in the reactor room we were in before." Junko stated.

"What do you mean?" Aerrow asked, his interest perked.

"Well, it looks like they had been venting a lot of heat, but I caught a look at some of the equipment. And, something doesn't make sense." Junko sounded a little flustered as he tried to make sense of what he was about to say. "It doesn't look like they had been used in a while."

"What?" Aerrow asked, confused by what the wallop meant. "You mean the venting controls hadn't been used? Just means that the Cyclonians are a bit lazy about their upkeep."

"No, not the vents." Junko said still sounding a little confused. "They are still using the venting to channel out the exhaust. But, the exhaust isn't coming from the reactors. I mean, they're not using the reactors. And, judging from what I saw, they haven't used them awhile."

"Wait." Finn spoke up, confusion apparent on his voice. "How could they not be using their reactors. There's no power without them." Finn thought for a second. "You sure, man? I mean, that blast from Stryker's machine could have funked up the readings."

"Maybe." Junko thought for a second. "But ther analog recordings I saw shouldn't have been afected by that, it just doesn't make sense."

Aerrow had been silently listening and thinking about everything Junko had said. "So if the reactors haven't been on, what was powering this place?"

Suddenly, the door to the cell swung open. A dark figure, with a familiar profile, stood there. "The answer would haunt your nightmares." Dark Ace said with a cold tone.

"So, here to gloat?" Aerrow said with contempt.

"Mostly." Ace said with a quick laugh. "But I'm also here to let you have another roommate."

He quickly pulled a bound figure into the cell sitting them next to Aerrow. Then, just as quick as he arrived, Dark Ace shut the door and was gone.

It took Aerrow's eyes a moment to readjust to what little light there was. Looking at the figure he quickly made out the familiar outline of his friend. "PIPER!" He tried pulling at his restraints, wanting desperately to reach out and hug to make sure she was real. Finn and Junko pulled simiarly t their restraints with no result. "Your here! Your alive! Your.."

"Captured." She stated flatly.

"Yeah." Aerrow slightly stammered. "But it's good to know you made it off The Condor on time before it crashed."

"I didn't." Piper said, her voice still flat, her gaze never leaving the floor.

"How did you survive then?" Finn asked barely keeping himself tearing up from the flood of emotions filling him at that moment.

"Stork." Piper said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "One of his crazy little devices saved us both."

Junko hesitated before asking the obvious question. "Where is Stork?"

As soon as he finished asking the question, Piper lost control. She began openly weeping, unable to hold back the tears any longer.

Aerrow felt a weight drop in his chest. He didn't want to ask, but he needed to know. "Piper, what happened?"

Piper started regaining some of her composure long enough to recount what had happened up to the cargo ship taking off. Then she began to tell them about everything she saw up to when she was taken into the cel and placed next to them.

Aerrow felt a mixture of rage and fear that caused his whole body to shake. _Dark Ace was right._ Aerrow thought himself, _It will haunt my nightmares.

* * *

Whew_. Another chapter done. Next one coming out soon. And for those of you wondering, the next chapetr is called simply "What She Saw" Look forward to it. Later.


	15. Ch14 What She saw

And we keep rolling into the next one.

* * *

Heart of darkness...What She Saw

The ship had landed. Piper, with her hands bound behind her, was escorted off the cargo ship with two Talons on both sides of her with Cyclonis in the front. They were met on the landing platform by none other than Dark Ace and several dozen other Cyclonians, a mixture of technicians and Talons. They quickly got to work unloading the strange containers off the ship.

Dark Ace approached and kneeled before Cyclonis. "Master Cyclonis, it's good to see you safely return." He looked up from where he knelt, catching sight of Piper behind Cyclonis. "I see it wasn't a completely boring trip." He added with a smirk as he stood.

"I would imagine you encountered the rest of the group already." Cyclonis asked she began to move around Dark Ace ad make way to some of the already offloaded containers.

"Indeed." Dark Ace affirmed as he moved in step behind his master. "We've already captured them and had them put in confinement."

Piper felt her heart sink further at Dark Ace's words. _That's it then. There really is no hope left._

Cyclonis approached the container she had been casually caressing while she had been talking to Piper. She put her hand against it and began to rub it lightly once again. She looked over her shoulder to one of the technicians over seeing the offloading. "Take these to have them installed, to replace the ones that I'm sure are useless now." She turned her attention back to the container in front of her. "This one though, I want for _that._" She looked at Ace after she said this with a smile on her face. "Bring her along. I'm sure she can appreciate the sight of it." She said indicating Piper who was completely feeling vulnerable and confused.

At that moment, Stork was being wheeled off the ship on a gurney. Piper looked at him as he was wheeled passed. He was still unconscious and looked a shade of pale green that made Piper worry even more.

The Talon pushing the gurney stopped in front of Dark Ace and Cyclonis. "What do you want me to do with him?"

Cyclonis let a small dark smile cross her face. Piper could almost see the evil radiating out from under Cyclonis' cowl. "He needs treatment. I roughed him up a bit to much." She looked over at Piper now as she continued. "We don't want him to die just yet. He might be '_useful_' later." She turned to look at Dark Ace as she finished. "It's a good thing we have a good doctor on staff. Best to take him there."

Realization suddenly hit Piper. _Heron. _"No!" She yelled as she rushed forward at Cyclonis only to be quickly held in place by the guards around her. "You can't take him to that mad man. Stork would rather die than be treated by him." She struggled vainly against her guard's grip.

"Then he will die Piper." Cyclonis said flatly, turning back towards Piper. "Slowly." She raised her staff, pointing it Stork's unconscious form. "If you want, I could kill him now. Quick and painlessly." The crystal on the end of her staff began to glow, reflecting Cyclonis's intent to kill.

Piper felt her strength leaving her again as she stopped struggling against the grip of her guards. "No." She said in a small voice. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes. "Please don't kill him."

Cyclonis lowered her staff, the glowing of the crystal subsiding. "Then behave yourself." She said in a mocking, self assured tone. "I give you my word that he will be treated and made better than he was before, but only if you behave yourself." Cyclonis turned on her heel and began moving towards the platform door that led into the citadel. "Now come along quickly. I have a surprise for you that I'm sure a crystal expert such as yourself can truly appreciate."

Piper looked around her as she was being led into the citadel. The Talons and technicians were busy transporting the strange containers into a separate door from the one she was being led to behind Cyclonis. There were some crates being unloaded and immediately cracked open. They contained regular energy crystals used by the talons for their staff weapons.

_Great._ Piper thought to herself. _Looks like Stryker's not so brilliant plan is only good for getting us captured. I swear, if i see that man again, I'm gonna kick him in the crotch so hard his grand kids will feel it._

She was moving through a dark hallway now. Cyclonis was still in front of her, lighting the passage with glow of her staff, with Dark Ace in tow behind her. Behind her was a couple technicians pushing the strange container on a moving jack.

Piper could not help but be curious of the contents of the container. _Why were we on such a small cargo ship anyway? there's no way that such a small ship could carry enough crystals to re-power this place. Is what ever inside this container behind some sort of new power source. Ugh, i hate surprises. _Piper continued following obediently behind Cyclonis, an uneasiness feeling her from the whole situation. Whatever was in the container, Piper was sure now more than ever that it couldn't be good.

A few moments later, Cyclonis and her _entourage_ emerged into an open area. After they entered, a technician went over to the wall and pulled a crank. As he turned it, a door came down sealing off the passage they had just passed through. Piper looked around the room, taking in as much as she could make out with the limited light to try and get an idea of what may be coming next. The room was lined with various monitors, all of them were still dark from a lack of power.

"Hmmmm." Cyclonis let out a disappointed sigh. "be sure to discipline the technicians for not get everything running faster. Everything should have been powered on before we even reached here."

As if on cue, light filled the room. The various monitors now began powering on, all showing various readouts that Piper couldn't quite make out.

"Much better." Cyclonis said, the cowl over head began to unfurl, forming it's usual high collar look. "Now, time to begin." She nodded over to a figure that Piper hadn't seen before.

Piper jumped from seeing him suddenly there. _Was he there the whole time? In the dark?_ Quickly calming herself she looked over the new person.

He was a Merb, but strange by comparison to Stork and other Merbs she had met. He stood straight up, but at the same time was a bit shorter than most Merbs. He had a slightly worn out looking grey coat that matched the color of his skin. He had long black hair that he kept slicked back out of his face. There were hints of grey at the temples that was slightly off shade of his skin, showing his age. He wore goggles over his eyes that were shaded, further bringing into question how he was moving around in the dark. Then the description hit Piper as familiar. With a strong tone of disgust in her voice, Piper addressed the Merb. "Dr. Heron, I presume."

A smile crossed Heron's face. "I see that my reputation precedes me." He put a hand out. "Indeed you are correct. I am Doctor Heron, master of all things medically mysterious. And you are?"

"Very angry to see you. You disease spreading freak." Piper added showing her disdain while knocking away Heron's outstretched hand.

"Ahhhh." Heron said in a tone that showed how little this statement affected him. "Been reading up on some unpleasant rumors about me, eh? You shouldn't put to much stock in what they print in books these days. It's always so closed minded and one-sided. No one ever appreciates the full scope of my work."

"Oh I think I appreciate it." Cyclonis spoke up from where she was standing. "And i would appreciate if you got back to it already!" Cyclonis said in a tone that reflected her impatience.

"Quite right." Heron said as he moved quickly over to the container that the technicians had set up next to a series of relays and monitors. He quickly pressed series of buttons on the large container. "Please begin connecting the cables." He said to the technicians as he stepped away. He moved over to Cyclonis, taking her lightly by the arm. He then casually guided her to a chair-like device in the center of the room. Various cables ran out from it. Some went monitors while the others connected to the container in front of her.

As she sat down, heron moved in front of her. "If I may?" He said in a reverent tone.

"Continue." Cyclonis said in a slightly annoyed tone. "It's not like this is the first time."

"Yes, but it never hurts to be courteous to a lady." Heron said in a slightly eager, almost joyful, tone. "You are, after all, living proof of my crushing defeat of death."

Piper was almost mesmerized by what she saw next. Heron simply reached over and undid some of the binding on Cyclonis' top. He carefully pulled back the cloth and, to Piper's surprise, revealed a metal plate on Cyclonis's chest. It was placed in the middle of her chest, directly on the sternum. Heron pulled her shirt down to just above the swell of her breasts, revealing a connecting port. Heron grabbed a cable from just over Cyclonis' left shoulder and connected it to the plate.

"Well, time to begin." Heron said in a giddy tone.

"Wait." Cyclonis said in an almost anxious tone. "Let me see it first."

Heron frowned a bit. "I can never understand your fascination with wanting to see them before the process." He quickly sighed then nodded to the technicians standing by the container. "You are the boss, so what you want, you get."

Piper, who was already feeling uneasy by the whole situation, felt the strength leave her knees as the container opened across the middle. The top half raised up on to reveal the contents. Piper collapsed to her knees, the sight of it causing her to feel sick and fascinated all at once.

Inside the container was a tube filled with red liquid. A figure could be seen floating in it. Looking at it, Piper could make out human features. But the form was distorted by various growths all over it's body. In the middle of all the various growths, Piper could make out energy crystals.

"Oh my god." Piper said in a weak voice as she tried to keep herself from vomiting. "You implanted a person with crystals? Why?"

Cyclonis and Heron exchanged a quick look before let out a small laugh. Heron began to explain while keeping a slightly amused tone in his voice. "We wouldn't do something so crude as that my dear girl." He took a few steps towards the container raising his hand to point out one of the growths on the person's body."If you look closely, you will notice there are no scars or anything similar that would point out obvious surgical operations. Though in the beginning we did do that." Heron paused for a moment, as if thinking back on old memories. "But those results were mixed and highly unreliable."

Piper could only stare as the crazy Merb in front of her continued in a tone of voice that reflected no remorse on what he had done. If anything, it sounded more like a lecture a teacher would give to students.

"What we have done here is for more efficient." Heron paused a moment to look at Cyclonis, who simply nodded. Heron continued. "I have some background, as you are aware, in diseases. One particular disease has a interesting effect of causing foreign organic matter to grow inside to body. A few slight modifications later and PRESTO!" He yelled last bit while shaking his hands like he was a magician. "We have viable crystal energy being produced from a living being." A grin was now wide on his face.

"That's monsterous!" Piper yelled at the smiling Heron.

Heron let the smile fade as he raised a finger, wagging it back and forth. "No no no, my dear. That's progress."

Piper was dumbfounded by how casually this person in front of her talked about destroying peoples lives. "That means that all those other containers are..."

"Yes Piper." Cyclonis spoke up from where she sat. "They're all just like him. They power my citadel. And when your little attack that Stryker set up went off, it killed the previous _reactors."_

"How could it kill them?" Piper said, a bit confused. "It would have just de-powered their crystals."

"Wrong again my dear." Heron said in a mocking tone. "Part of the beauty of this disease that I modified is that converts life energy directly in to crystal energy. As long as the hosts are alive, the crystals produce energy. But, sucking out all the energy from the crystal sucks out all the life energy as well."

"Where did you even get these people from?" Piper asked, afraid of the answer.

it was Dark Ace who answered this time. "You really don't think we keep prisoners forever do you?"

Piper was horrified. "But how could you do this? Why?"

"The answer is simple Piper." Cyclonis said in a flat and firm tone. "I'm dead."

"Now now, Master Cyclonis." Heron quickly added. "Your beyond death now, and more alive then any before you."

"Yes, I am" Cyclonis said, and then let a dark smile cross her face again. "Now to make sure I stay that way. Please continue doctor."

"With pleasure." Heron said as he went over to a series of monitors. "Prepare the main transfer sequence." He ordered the technicians around him.

"Wait, what are you doing now?" Piper asked feebly from the floor.

Dark Ace walked up beside her. Everyone else was ignoring her as the busied themselves. "Sadly, Master Cyclonis can't produce life enrgy herself anymore. She needs a transfusion of energy, and what better place to get it from than crystal energy created directly from life."

Piper was beyond her breaking point now for the horror she was seeing. "Wait, please dont do this."

"Oh please, Piper." Cyclonis said mockingly. "It's not the first time we have done this, and it won't be the last."

Heron let out a small chuckle from where he stood at his monitoring station. "I still remember how crude this all was the first time. We had to flood an entire wing of a prison with raw crystal radiation in hopes that the irradiated prisoners would give us enough energy to restart Cyclonis's life."

Dark Ace chuckled. "You were so reluctant then. But, my sword at your throat certainly got things moving."

And that was it, Piper realized, the great answer to Cyclonis's resurrection. _They have sacrificed countless lives to keep her alive. _The realixation out her into shock. The rest of the events that followed flowed across her numb eyes.

With a quick pressing of buttons, Heron activated the transfer. "Begin extraction!" He yelled to his techs.

The crystals in the growths on person's body began to glow brightly, filling the entire room with a bright red light. Even thought she couldn't hear anything, Piper saw the person in the glass move their mouth. She knew they were screaming. Loud noise filled the room from the various machines reaching full power.

"Energy levels reaching the transfer point!" Heron was yelling now to keep his voice above the whine of the machines in the room. "In three...Two..."He readied his hand on a lever. "NOW!" He pulled the lever.

Bright red energy streamed across the room through the various cables connecting to device Cyclonis sat on. It quickly arced into the cable connected to her chest.

Cyclonis arched her back as the energy began to pour into her. She gripped the armrests and she opened her mouth as if to scream, but no noise came out.

Then, just as quick as the energy streamed across the room, it suddenly stopped. Everything was quiet.

Cyclonis quickly broke the silence as she stood up. "It always leaves me feeling tingly afterwards." She said with a small laugh and a grin. "Heron, the results?" She said as she turned to face Heron who was reading over various monitors.

"We had much better efficiency that time." Heron said as he looked away from the monitors. "I'd say about a forty-seven percent increase from our last transfusion. That should give you about a month before we need to do another one."

Piper was thrown at the last statement. _Only a month. They took an entire life for a month._ She wanted to get up and do something, but she found that she had no energy. The shock of the whole situation left her motionless.

Cyclonis reached up and disconnected the cable from her chest. "A little bit more each time." She said with a slight sigh. She turned her attention to Piper. "Poor girl." She looked at Dark Ace. "I think we broke her." She and Ace shared a laugh at this. "Take her to go spend some time with her friends. They should enjoy what little time they have left."

Dark Ace saluted and bent down to pick Piper back on her feet. He then started shoving her towards the door.

Cyclonis suddenly turned to Heron. "I just remembered. We have a guest for you."

Heron perked an eyebrow. "For me? Who?"

Cyclonis grinned. "I hurt a little Merb by the name of Stork. He's in you lab waiting to be patched up."

"Stork you say?" Heron's surprise was evident in his voice "Never thought I'd see him again."

"Please be sure to give him _the procedure_ after your done treating his wounds." Cyclonis said with a grin.

Piper, who hadn't passed through the door yet, caught a bad tone the way Cyclonis had said that. "Wait!" She yelled as she pushed back against Dark Ace's shoving. "What are you going to do to Stork? You gave me your word you would treat him."

"Poor little Piper." Cyclonis said with a laugh. "I do believe I said that he would get treated and be better than he was before. And I plan to keep my word." She let a small dark laugh as she turned her back on Piper.

Ace started shoving harder now pushing Piper through the door.

All the while Piper was yelling at the top of her lungs. "No! Leave him alone!"

Ace quickly cracked her over the head, knocking her out. He picked her up and caried her over his shoulder. She didn't regain consciousness until just before they reached her cell.

**...**

Aerrow felt a mixture of sadness and anger. "We have to get out of here."

Finn, who was just as equally enraged, spoke up, "Would love to do that, man. But unless we get some keys I don't think that's gonna work." He pulled on his restraints to emphasize his point.

Suddenly, from the vent above them, they heard a noise. They all looked up in time to see a set of keys drop through the vent.

"Um.." Finn stammered. "How about a blue eyed amazonian beauty to come sweep me off my feet?"

Just as he finished saying that, the vent crashed open. Radaar landed on the floor and chirped out a quick "Ta-Da!"-like noise.

Aerrow grinned. "Close enough for me"

Radaar quickly scooped up the keys and began to unlock all their restraints.

"Time to strike back guys." Aerrow said to his now completely released team.

"And strike hard." Junko said as he cracked his knuckles and punded his fists together.

* * *

Whew long one this time. Hope you all enjoyed it. If you did or didn't, please let me know with that little review button. Time to start the counter attack, see ya there.


	16. Ch15 Jailbreak

So here is a small chapter for you, sorry for the small wait. Things happen. But without further ado, here's another chapter for you all to enjoy.

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Heart of Darkness...Jailbreak

His name is Eyles, he's 27 and he is a Talon. He was guarding a cell that contained extra special prisoners, The Storm Hawks. It was quiet and he was bored. So he took this time to reflect on his current situation in life. He had been coerced into the service of Cyclonia by his mother, tradition of the family. It was a simple enough job. Fly through the sky, follow orders, and hijack the occasional trader's vessel. Simple.

But, over the last few years, things had started becoming less simple. Under the command of the young Master Cyclonis, they had started attacking more terras then ever before. Most people were taken as prisoners to be sent off to various locations. Some were kept in a special wing of the citadel, separate from the usual holding cells he was now guarding. And then there was the creepy Merb that served directly under Master Cyclonis, Dr. Heron. Rumors flew everywhere about what might be going on behind the closed doors of Dr. Heron's lab, all of them gave him nightmares. And then there were the "reactors." Only the higher ups and a few technicians knew the secrets on these things. But when he looked at them, so small but producing so much power, he always felt a chill run down his spine.

Today was simple guard duty, which he always preferred as one of his duties. It gave him time to think and relax. And, with all the extra bindings the had used, the Storm Hawks weren't going anywhere any time soon.

The sudden sound of metal clanking against metal shook him from his thoughts. The sounds had come from behind the cell door next to him.

"Oh crap." He said as he scrambled to look through the viewing window on the door. He peered through just in time to see the wallop of the group bring his fist back, reading a strong punch. In the split second between when Junko started bring his fist forward and connecting with the cell door, Eyles realized what had always been bugging him about his situation in life.

"I hate my job."

_**...**_

The cell door flew forward, crashing into the wall opposite the cell. The Storm Hawks quickly rushed out of the opening, scanning the hallway for any signs of the enemy. They all shared a confused look as they saw none in sight.

"What? No guard?" Finn said, his voice carrying a tone of disappointment. "Guess they don't think much of us."

"Hmmm, I don't know." Junko said as he stepped towards where the cell door lay against the wall. "It felt like there was a bit of _squishiness_ when I hit the door." He bent down and moved the door, revealing the battered Talon guard.

Piper quickly moved over to the guard, pressing her fingers against his neck. "He's alive." She quickly slapped the Talon across the face, bringing a small groan from the guard. "Where is Dr. Heron's lab?" Piper questioned the guard with anger present in her voice.

Aerrow quickly spoke up after seeing Piper's actions. "Umm, Piper? Maybe you shouldn't..."

He was cut off as Piper slapped the Talon's face again. She grabbed his uniform with both hands and brought his face closer to hers. "Where is Heron's lab!?" She slammed him against the wall, hard. "Answer me Talon!"

"But mommy, I don't want to be a Talon anymore." He responded in a voice that reflected how disoriented he was. His head rolled to the side and he quickly lost consciousness again.

Piper released her grip on the Talon's uniform, letting him fall down to the floor. "Useless." She said in a quick, angry, breath.

Aerrow quickly moved to Piper's side, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Piper, I know your worried, but you have to keep it together. We'll find him."

Piper regained her composure before speaking, but she could still feel tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. "I know we will, but I just can't help but feel I could have done more to keep him from being captured."

Aerrow gave a small, reassuring, squeeze on Piper's shoulder. "First things first, we find out where the lab is. Then, we rescue Stork, and after that we escape this place. We have to go inform The Sky Council of what we learned."

"_And, _when we get back, we have to take care of Stryker's two-timing butt." Fin added, smacking his fist into his other hand.

"I don't know." Piper thought for a second before continuing. "The way Cyclonis was talking, I'm pretty sure Stryker is on his way here to play the part of the conquering hero."

"_So what?_" Finn added, not holding back his disdain for Stryker. "Let him come waltzing into Cyclonis's trap. He made us into a bomb, remember?"

"Of course we do." Aerrow spoke up. "But, there will be others coming with Stryker, not just him. And we can't let a bunch of innocent people get hurt." Aerrow looked around at his squad, keeping a look of confidence on his face. "We'll just have to warn them somehow."

Finn quickly spoke up, looking around him as he did. "Um, not that I don't agree with you or anything, but could we just focus on the 'us getting out of here' part first? I mean just standing here in this corridor for to long, you just know that..."

He was quickly cut off by the sound of foot steps coming around the corner. Two Talons appeared, a conversation going on between them which cut short as soon as they saw the group of teens in front of them. Before they could react, Aerrow and Piper sprung forward. Aerrow took the one on the left, delivering a strong punch to the side of his head which knocked him cold. Piper caught the arm of the the other Talon as he tried to take a swing at her. Using the momentum of his punch, Piper quickly turned and threw him over her hip, on to the floor. She snatched up the staff weapon of their unconscious guard and pointed it in the face of the Talon she had thrown to the ground.

"Where is Heron's lab?" She asked in a strong voice.

The Talon looked up from the ground at her, then around at her companions. "Two levels up, just follow the signs that say 'infirmary."

"Thank you." Piper said in a cold tone before smacking him across the face with her staff, knocking him out cold. She looked at Aerrow. "Well, now we know where to go."

Aerrow nodded, in his gut he still felt unsure about how Piper was acting. But he didn't have time to worry about that, he knew the most important thing right now was getting his crew out of danger. "Storm Hawks, lets move."

They group quickly began moving through the corridors to where Stork was. Finn was glancing around him as they moved, noticing the unusually empty hallways. "Where is everybody anyway?"

"We can figure that out after we rescue Stork." Piper said as she ran along side Aerrow. Her thoughts were only on rescuing the friend she had failed to protect. _Please Stork, be okay when we get there._ She thought to herself. A small ball of fear was growing in the pit of her stomach, gnawing away at her confidence. She could only hope that everything would be okay, while at the same time fearing the worst.

* * *

Next chapter should be up tomorrow, baring any unforeseen circumstances. Look forward to it, but be sure to review this one. Till next time, keep your imaginations aflame. ;)


	17. Ch16 Waking Nightmare

And we keep rolling into the next one. Sorry it took a little longer than expected to get this one out, but, in my defense, this is a bit longer than I originally intended. Enjoy.

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Waking Nightmare

Stork didn't know where he was, and his memory of how he got there was clouded. He tried looking around, but he had a headache that made it hard for his eyes to focus. he could feel bindings around his arms, chest, wrists, and feet. His chest hurt, and at the the same time it felt like something was hugging it. He tried bringing up his last clear memory, to try and figure out where he was and what had happened.

**_..._**

He remembered moving to the rear of the ship to hide while Piper held off the Talons. He felt anger and regret at this memory. He wanted to be more useful to her, but he knew that he would just get in the way, so he had obeyed.

As he moved back, he heard noises of things being thrown around. He quickly ducked into an alcove just as a figure appeared from the darkness. _Cyclonis_, Stork felt fear rush through from the memory of her emerging from the rear of the ship, _why was she there so quickly? Was she on the cargo ship? _Stork felt anger at the thought of his precious Condor being sacrificed by some madman for _nothing!_ She moved through the passage past where Stork had ducked out of sight.

_Where are you going? _Stork thought to himself as Cyclonis moved further towards the front of the ship. _Don't even think of going in my room. Everything in there is already messed up enough, I'm sure, without you going in and messing with it._

She had moved past where he could see from his hiding spot, so he poked out his head. He saw her, hovering, moving towards the bridge. _Nothing about that doesn't give me the creeps. _Stork though as he watched her float menacingly towards the bridge. Looking past Cyclonis, through the broken open hatchway, he didn't see any signs of Piper. He felt a little relaxed by this, but still worried about where she was.

As Cyclonis moved further in, now crossing in to the bridge, Stork slowly followed. He hid himself behind the frame of the door leading into the bridge. Now that he was closer, he could hear sounds of fighting coming from just outside the broken windshield. _Piper_, Stork thought as various emotions rose in him while hearing the sounds of staff weapons being fired.

Cyclonis had reached the shattered windshield now. Stork could tell that she was looking down at where Piper was most likely fighting the Talons below. He saw her charging the crystal on the end of her , at that moment, all the different dangers of The Atmos flowed through his head. But, at the same time, none of them mattered to him. He quickly moved from where he hid, charging at Cyclonis with all the speed he could muster.

Unfortunately, Stork was not well trained in how to make a successful sneak attack. He made to much noise in his approach, alerting Cyclonis to his presence just in time for her to bring her staff around, connecting with the side of Stork's head.

"So another of you survived." Cyclonis said to Stork as he lay on the floor.

He could feel a warm sensation starting to run down the side of his head. He knew it was his blood, and his mind was already at work listing of the various conditions and infections that can arise from a serious head wound. Not to mention the constant threat of mind worms now having an easy access point. He quickly shook off these thoughts, the biggest danger being in front of him.

Cyclonis looked down on Stork with a dark smirk on her face. "You annoying Storm Hawks should just learn when to roll over and die."

Stork let a small smile cross his face. "And maybe you should learn to stay dead."

Anger shown brightly on Cyclonis's face. She raised her hand, a crystal in her grip. A hand of pure red energy shot out and grabbed Stork, it quickly raised up and slammed Stork against the ceiling. Stork was sure he felt a few ribs pop, possibly break, from the impact. His shoulder was cut open on a piece of loose metal the was sticking out of the ceiling, and Stork felt himself lose sensation in that arm.

Cyclonis brought him close to her, keeping a tight _grip_ on him as she did. "Listen well little merb, these may be the last words you hear." Cyclonis's voice carried a strange tone as she spoke, one that sent shivers up Stork's spine. "These are the final days of the free Atmos. I just have to stamp out what little resistance there is left. Which is you, your squad, wherever they are, and her." She pointed down where Piper was still fighting the Talons below.

"Don't you touch her." Stork said in a weak voice. It was hard to breath in between the pain he felt from his damaged ribs being squeezed.

"Your in no position to order me around merb." With that she let a large amount of raw energy surge through the _hand_ that held Stork.

Stork couldn't hold back anymore and screamed out in pain. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air. And then his memory went fuzzy.

_**...**_

Now Stork was sure, that where ever he was, he wasn't safe and sound. He tried to open his eyes again, pain shooting through his brain as light shot through his vision. As his eyes started to focus, he began looking around from where he was laying. There was a cast on his chest, and bandages on his arm. Various fluids were being fed into him through a needle in his arm. He recognized the the substances as simple antibiotics. He started looking around the room, taking in as much as was in his view. The more he looked around though, the more sure that he must have contracted some sort of malady. Because what he was seeing didn't make sense.

He saw tables with various documents and containers sitting on them. Crystals floating in liquids reacting off each other with monitoring equipment giving various readouts from the pulsing they made. All the normal things he would expect to see in a crystal lab. But, from his point of view, they were all on the ceiling.

_Let's see. _Stork began to think to himself. _Severe injury to the head and body would leave a person open to receive any number of various viruses that will cause them to hallucinate. Also, I'm pretty sure a rib or two broke, so some marrow from my bones could have shook free into my blood stream. This would work up into my brain, causing a severe problem with reasoning skills before causing a horrible death from infection. Yep, pretty sure I'm doomed._

Stork would have continued list off various medical problems before moving on to possible parasites, if his train of thought hadn't been interrupted.

"Ah, good. Your awake." A voice outside of Stork's vision spoke up. A voice that Stork found all to familiar.

_Oh god._ Stork thoughts were racing now. _Please don't be him. Please don't be him. Please let me be hallucinating. _

Heron quickly stepped into Stork's field of vision. "So nice to see you again, my wayward assistant."

Stork saw Heron standing on the ceiling with the other tables. And that's when it hit Stork. He wasn't looking up at the ceiling, he was looking down from it.

Stork readied himself to start yelling every obscenity he could think of at Heron. Years of nightmares were about ready to be vented at their creator. Or, at least, he would have started yelling. But, Heron quickly took out a syringe in injected it into Stork's neck. Stork found himself unable to speak, only stare in bewilderment at Heron.

Heron simply smiled as he looked up at Stork. "I figured you were about to spend the next few minutes yelling all sorts of nasty things at me. So I took the liberty of preparing this little concoction." He held up the now empty syringe. "It paralyzes the vocal cords, but don't worry. It will only last a few minutes. Just long enough for me to have a little chat with my former pupil with no unnecessary yelling."

Heron pulled up a chair that had a head rest on the back of it. He sat down and rested his head back so he was looking right up at Stork's face.

"In case you were wondering about your current resting place. It a nice little system I set up using a combination of various crystals. Keeps my patients up out of the way so I have more room to work around in." Heron reached up and moved Stork's bed around as if was simply floating. Which, at this point, Stork was pretty sure it was. "Just had it re-installed after having to take it, and various other crystal powered devices, off the terra."

Stork's eyes flared wide and he moved his mouth to yell, but no words came out.

"Yes Stork, we knew of you little mission well before you were even assigned it." Heron said with a slight grin. "Cyclonis has eyes and ears everywhere. She's quite the the amazing person for one so young." He carried a hint of pride in his voice as he spoke. "Now on to the matter at hand." Herons became serious as he spoke now. "Master Cyclonis has asked me to prepare you as one the next batch of _refined_ subjects. But, I have convinced her that you are far more valuable alive. That is, of course, if you agree to behave yourself."

Stork wasn't sure Heron meant by _refined_, but he was sure it couldn't be good. But, on the same note, he wasn't to wild about the idea of working with Heron again. If he could talk, he would have already have said no, but all he could muster were heavy breathing noises.

"Now, before you give into your wild emotions, hear me out." Heron continued, a genuine sound concern in his voice. "You were the best assistant I ever had. Your ability to retain the knowledge of all the various diseases and dangers of The Atmos is far better than any others I have encountered." Heron sighed, as he recounted some of the failures. "Sure, I tried to have assistants after you, but none held a candle to you. Some were good pilots, but were unable to even tell the difference between Sasox Disease and Jamion Flu. I mean can you believe that?" Heron held a expression of disbelief as he looked up at Stork.

Stork rolled his eyes. To him, the difference was as clear as night and day. The rashes alone were clear indicators of their difference.

"Others had a good amount of book smarts, but lacked the ability to put it to use. Not to mention the horrid piloting skills." Heron let a bright smile cross his face as he looked up at Stork. "There is where you shine brightest of all. No one compared to your expertise at the controls of a ship."

Stork grinned slightly at this. He felt a wave at nostalgia at being praised by his former mentor. It reminded him of times before his world had shattered.

"You see." Heron grinned as he looked excitedly up at Stork. "Your a perfect assistant for me. Besides, what is really holding your loyalty to the Storm Hawks anyway? Your just their pilot, and now your ship is nothing more than scrap on the side of this terra. You don't even wear their emblem."

Stork felt a sharp sting at those words. It's true. He was just picked up to pilot The Condor, but that was a heap of metal now. He himself had stated that he was only around till something better came along. But he hardly thought of his current situation as _better_.

"In a few moments you should regain your speech. Take this time to consider your answer. I sincerely would hate to lose such gifted talent as yourself." Heron stood up from his chair and walked away from Stork. He busied himself with looking over various documents that were piled up on his desk. Unable to speak, Stork was left to his thoughts. He began to think of those he had been calling his squad mates.

Aerrow was brave and a skilled fighter, as well as their leader. He had formed the team in the first place and hired on Stork to fly The Condor. He always led them through to victory in the toughest situations. _He also was the one that led us into those situations._ Stork thought with a slight bit of anger. _Always agreeing to every to every tough assignment that came our way without even taking a second to consider if we could even make it through in one piece. He's the one that accepted this mission this mission in the first place. If he had just thought it over for a day at least, maybe things would have been different. _Stork sighed as he let his thoughts move away from Aerrow.

He didn't have many thoughts on Radaar. But, there were times, he was sure that the little hairball knew more than he let on. _It's hard to trust someone you can barely understand._

Junko was simple and kind. _And has a stomach that, as far as I can tell, has no bottom. _Stork was at a loss to think of anything the wallop wouldn't eat. _Except merb cabbage anyway. All the disgusting things I have seen that boy eat, and he can't eat delicious merb cabbage? _

And then there was Finn. Finn's music. His lack of any good jokes. In fact, Stork found it hard to think of any of Finn's good points. Except, of course, the fun he had when it came to breaking Finn's things. He felt himself smile at the memory of all the various things Finn had used to annoy him, and how eventually broke them or melted them down.

That only left..._Piper._ Stork thoughts became flooded with memories of her. Her smile. Her sandcakes. She was the only one of the crew that ever seemed to understand him, or even tried to. _She's so strong and confident. She's the only one who ever even tries to take a second and think about the dangers we're about to face. And they way she smells..._ Stork lost his train of thought as he let himself get lost in the memories he had of Piper.

He quickly remembered his situation and snapped himself back to reality. _Not like I have a chance anyway._ Stork felt his heart s he began to think of his own flaws. _I'm older than her. I'm afraid of just about everything, especially the unknown. I'm not human,_ Stork sighed heavily, _and I'm not Aerrow._ The way those two related to each other always left Stork with a sour taste in his mouth. He saw the way she laughed and smiled with him,and every memory of it left a twisting pain in his stomach.

His thoughts were once again interrupted by Heron stepping back into view. "Well Stork?" Heron asked as he looked up at Stork with an expecting look. "Your voice should about be fully recovered now. So, what will it be? Resume your place as my apprentice, or _not?"_ He let the last word roll out with a sour tone.

Stork looked down at Heron with a sorrow filled look and he opened his mouth to answer. But, before he could, a loud _BANG_ came from the door of the lab, followed quickly by another. Heron quickly moved to several monitor's he had located on the far wall of the room.

"Hmmmm." Displeasure was apparent in Heron's tone. "It would seem we have some uninvited guests trying to crash our little reunion."

_Bang_

Heron quickly picked up something that, to Stork, looked like some kind of dart gun.

_Bang_

The doorway was bulging in now from the severe impact of the blows it was receiving.

_Bang_

Stork craned his head over as much as he could to try and look over at the door from where he lay.

_BANG_

The door came flying off it's hinges. It shot across the room barely missin Stork and making Heron duck for cover behind one of his work tables. Stork could make out Junko standing in the doorway with others moving behind him. Piper quickly shot through the opening carrying a Cyclonian staff weapon.

"_Piper."_ Stork said in a weak voice, he was still recovering from the effects of Heron's injection.

Piper quickly looked over at Stork, a look of relief washed over her face. "STORK!" She quickly ran over to where he was. She leaned her staff against a table as she reached up to undo the restraints holding Stork up on the floating gurney.

Heron quickly emerged from where he had ducked behind his desk. "Stop right there!" He held up the dart gun, pointing it at Piper. The others quickly rushed into room, but halted in their tracks as they saw the weapon Heron had pointed at Piper. "Do you have any idea how much of my work you just ruined with your little intrusion!?" Heron yelled at them as he waved his hand at where the door had crashed into several of the tables where experiments had been running.

Piper gave him a look of anger as she spoke. "I'm sorry, but we thought helping our friend was a bit more important than your sick experiments."

"Sick?" Heron voice carried an irritated tone. "_Sick!?_ My dear you know nothing of my work." Heron side stepped over to the ruined experiments as he kept his gun pointed at Piper. "This was an ongoing, _time sensitive,_ experiment to try and find a treatment for Sarma Pox. Your buffoonery has set me back six months." He gave Piper an annoyed look through his tinted goggles. "Not all my work has questionable morality."

"It's your _other_ work that has me sick to my stomach Heron." Piper said in a tone that reflected her anger towards Heron. "Now we are taking Stork and we are getting off this terra."

"It doesn't matter." Heron said, his grip tightening on the dart gun. "Soon, Cyclonis will have all she needs to conquer The Atmos." A grin spread across his face. "But, you my dear, won't be around to enjoy the new world we will create." He readied himself to fire his gun.

A shot of purple energy shot out from across the room, hitting Heron's hand. Heron dropped his gun as he grabbed his hand in pain. Everyone turned their heads to the direction that the shot had come from. Finn stood there with a Cyclonian staff weapon.

"What?" Finn looked at all of them with a triumphant expression. "You can always expect The Finn-ster to save the day." He shot them all his biggest smile.

"Thanks Finn." Piper said quickly before turning back around to free Stork. She lowered him down carefully while making sure not to apply to much pressure to his chest cast or his shoulder bandages. "Lets get out of here."

Heron let out a small laugh. "Where will you go Stork? Your not one of _them._ You never have been. Will you leave me again like a scared child?" Heron said as he cradled his injured hand.

"I grew up a long time ago." Stork said looking at Heron, his voice still a little shaky. He leaned on Piper for support as he bent down and picked up the dart gun that Heron had dropped, and pointed it at Heron. "And you were right. They aren't my squad." He looked at Piper and the others before looking back at Heron. "They're my family." He quickly pired a dart from the gun into Heron's chest. "Consider that a 'no' on your offer."

Heron looked up at him with a surprised expression before collapsing onto the ground.

Stork let the gun drop on the floor and, still leaning on Piper, looked at his friends. "Don't worry. Those were only tranquilizers." His legs felt weak as he leaned a bit more heavily on Piper before regaining his balance. "Now let's get out of this nightmare."

They all started moving towards the door. Junko came up to Piper. "I can carry him a bit."

Piper gave Junko a shake of her head. "It's okay, I have him."

Stork preferred the idea of being close to Piper than being carried like a sack of potatoes on Junko's shoulder. He gave her a small grin as he looked her in the eye. "Thanks for saving me."

Piper grinned back at him as they continued their way down the hallway.

"Um, not to break the mood guys." Finn spoke up as they moved through the hallway. "But how do we get out of here anyway?"

They all shared a look. Each of them giving a slight shrug.

Stork sighed. "Looks like we're all still doomed."

They all shared a laugh as they continued down they hall to try and find their escape route.

Only Piper let her thoughts wander back to Dr. Heron's words about Cyclonis soon having all she needed to take over The Atmos. _What did he mean by that?_

_

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_What indeed. Guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter to find out. But please feel free to express your thoughts and feelsings on this chapetr through your reviews. Reviews are my crack and I need a fix. Later.


	18. Ch17 So Close and To Close

So, the team finally finds themselves complete once more, but they are still in the belly of the beast. And, unknown to them, Stryker and his forces are on the horizon, moving towards an expecting Cyclonis. There is still more danger to be revealed in this tale. Enjoy.

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Heart of Darkness...So Close and To Close

Cyclonis stood on a balcony that adjoined her throne room. To her right stood Dark Ace, patiently waiting for orders from his master. She was gazing out into the horizon, casually holding her staff in her left hand, a smile on her face as she gazed out. Far into the distance she could make out the approaching could faintly make out just how many there were

"Twelve ships." She said with a small laugh as she turned to look at Dark Ace. "They must think they are in for an easy of victory."

Dark Ace smirked. "Well we are doing our best to look defeated." He waved his arm towards some of the visible turret placements. The were pointed down with no signs of power. In fact, not a single light could be sen on the exterior of the citadel. It looked, for all intents and purposes, dead. "I wish I could see the look on that idiots face when he realizes just how much of a fight he's in for."

Cyclonis turned back to the look at the on coming fleet. "I would imagine that many of those carriers have near empty cargo holds. They were hoping to make off with as many valuable items they can find." She let a small smirk cross her face, a chuckle in her throat. She walked up to the edge of the balcony, stopping just before the railing. "They'll no doubt have only a small supply of armaments on board. More than enough to deal with some unarmed Talons."

Dark Ace walked up beside her, placing his hands on the railing as he leaned in to speak closely with his master. "They will be no match for us." He said with a devilish grin. "Stryker will have no choice but to use..."

Cyclonis quickly cut him off by raising her hand. Her eyes went wide then quickly squinted, as if she were concentrating on something. "Something is wrong."

Dark Ace's face quickly began to show concern. "What do you mean?"

Cyclonis gripped her staff tightly, her knuckles beginning to turn white. "Someone close by has fired a weapon."

Dark Ace showed a look of confusion on his face. "How can you be sure of that master?"

Cyclonis let a look of annoyance cross her face before she explained. "I can always feel crystal energy around me. With this little amount of power flowing through the citadel, a sudden spike of energy can only mean a weapon has been fired. Go find out who and why."She turned to look Dark Ace in the face, A spark of energy crossed her eyes and her voice carried a deeper, odd tone. "_NOW!"_

Dark Ace snapped off a quick salute before rushing off to investigate. _I think I should check on our guests first._ Dark Ace thought as he began to make his way out of the throne room.

As soon as Dark Ace had left the room, Cyclonis slammed her fist on the railing in front of her. _I will not have my plans ruined this close to completion, not again. _Cyclonis thought angrily to herself. She looked up at the oncoming fleet again. _So close!_

_**........**_

The Storm Hawks moved carefully through the dark hallways of the enemy base. Truth be told, they had no idea where they were exactly in the base, and had no clue as to how exactly they would escape. Each hallway looked exactly the same as the last.

"Seriously." Finn spoke up, breaking the silence. "These Cyclonians should invest in an interior decorator or something. It's all black, red and depressing around here."

Aerrow let a small smile cross his face. "I doubt they were worried about having guests over when they designed this place."

"Still, I'm just saying, man..." Finn continued to list off various things he would do to remedy the Cyclonian's design scheme.

Stork was already getting a headache from Finn. He whispered to Piper, who was still supporting him as they walked. "Please make him stop before something terrible happens."

Piper nodded. "Finn, could you keep it down? We don't want to draw any unnecessary attention."

Finn stopped talking and looked at Piper. "Uh, yeah. Sorry." Finn gave an apologetic look. "It's just, I talk when I get nervous."

"You must be nervous all the time." Stork chimed in with a small smirk.

Everyone shared a small laugh. Finn added more, keeping his voice low. "It's just, I can't help but wonder where all the Cyclonians are, you know? I mean, we haven't run into any Talons since we broke out our cell."

"Let's just take that as lucky for now." Aerrow said, a small tone of worry in his voice. The odd lack of any other personnel in the hallways had him on edge too. He knew that something was up, but was reluctant to discuss it. His main focus at the moment was getting his team to safety, somehow.

Stork had worries of his own, but not all were about the lack of Talons. With the shock of the Heron situation now over, Stork had become increasingly aware of his close proximity to Piper. Various thoughts of germ transfer through direct content were running through the back of his mind, while his main focus was trying to keep his heart from bursting through his chest. He could feel it beating like a jackhammer and was trying to think of various infections and disorders to calm himself down. But, every time he came close to calming down he would get a whiff of her scent, or look at her face so close to his, and it would send the blood rushing to his face and start the whole process over again. He knew that if he didn't do something soon, he would pass out from the strain of it all.

"Um, Piper." Stork began with a nervous voice. "Maybe Junko should help carry me now. I don't want to weigh you down the whole time."

Piper gave him a slightly confused look as they continued walking. "Don't worry about it." She said with a slight grin. Then a thought occurred to her, mostly about Stork's proximity to her, and her armpit. _Oh god! _She thought quickly. _All this running around and sweating. I must smell like one of Junko's dirty socks._ She instinctively pulled her arms down, releasing Stork in the process. Stork was still feeling a little unsteady on his feet and started to lose his balance. He fell back against a door that was on the left side of the hallway, causing it to pop open. He disappeared into the dark room with a loud _thud._

Piper quickly rushed in after him, the others moving to the doorway. "Ah, sorry Stork!" She reached down to help him back to his feet.

Storm raised a hand, signaling her to stop. "I'm fine!" He winced as he picked himself off the floor, his ribs reminding him how _fine_ he realy was. He looked around him to get an idea of what kind of room he stumbled into. It was dark in the room, the only light coming through the dorway. "What is this room anyway?"

Aerrow reached around the opening and flipped the light switch. Lights immediately began to flicker on around them revealing a much larger room than they were expecting. The room twice the size of The Condor's hanger with various size crates and boxes paced about the room.

Aerrow looked around, scanning the room for ay sign of a threat. "Must be a storage room." He moved over to one of the closer crates, lifting the lid to reveal it's contents. "Crystals." He said as he reached in and pulled one out. It's color was the same as the one's generally used by the Cyclonians to power their staff weapons, but the color was dul with no signs of power. "Must have been wiped out by the wave. They're paperweights now."

Aerrow looked around, trying to see if there might still be anything useful. Towards the rear of the room, he could make out a larger set of doors. He quickly moved to them, the rest of the team following behind. The doors went all the way from the top of the room to the floor. Aerrow pressed the controls on the side to open the doors. They began to pull up revealing that behind them was...nothing. They lead out onto an open platform on the side of the citadel.

Finn was the first to speak up. "Yes!" He yelled as he threw his fists in the air. "Dudes, we're outside." He looked around at his team but, instead of celebrating, they were all staring at the horizon. "What is it?" He turned to look at the horizon as well. In the distance he could see a number of ships making their way toward the citadel. "Woh." he said flatly as he stared out at the approaching armada.

Aerrow spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. "I guess Stryker's come to pick up the pieces." Aerrow counted the ships and immediately knew that Styker had dragged others into Cyclonis's trap. "How many of those squadrons are our friends?"

"Hard to say." Junko said as he squinted to try and make out the ships. "But at the speed their going, we'll find out soon."

Aerrow kept a calm tone. "How long?"

"Half hour, at best." Junko said as he looked back at Aerrow.

"Then we have a half hour to save the day." Aerrow said as he moved to the edge of the platform.

"Um, not that I'm not for saving people, especially after you guys just saved me." Stork spoke up as he leaned against the hanger's door frame for support. "But, you do remember that we have no ship, weapons or, most importantly, a plan."

Aerrow was looking down off the edge of the platform, a plan already forming in his head. "I'm pretty sure that will help." He said as he pointed down past where everyone could see from where they stood.

The squad quickly moved forward to form around their leader, Stork moving with the help of Piper again, causing them both to feel nervous for different reasons. As they approached where Aerrow stood, they looked down to where he pointed. They all saw the platform below them with a small cargo vessel on it.

"I'm pretty sure that's the same ship that Cyclonis had me and Stork on." Piper said as she tried to support Stork with her elbows tucked into her sides.

"And I'm willing to bet that they're may be some more weapons and working crystals on there." Aerrow said with a new confidence.

"So how do we get down there?" Finn said as he scratched his head. "It's a bit to far to just jump down."

"Maybe for us, but I'm pretty sure Junko can handle that distance." Aerrow said as he reached over to pat Junko on the shoulder. "Ain't that right buddy?"

"Hmmm." Junko thought for a second. "Well only one way to find out." He said as he quickly jumped forward off the platform, surprising everyone. He quickly fell down through the air and landed on the lower platform with a loud _thud_ that left a dent in the floor at his feet. He raised his hand to give a thumbs up.

"It's a good thing Wallops are so sturdy." Aerrow said as he motioned Junko to get on the ship and fly it up to them.

Junko quickly disappeared into the cargo ship and they all saw the engines fire on as it lifted on the platform below them. Junko quickly brought it around and landed it on the platform that the rest of the team was on. The rear cargo doors opened to reveal a smiling Junko.

Aerrow moved onto the ship to see if there was still anything left. Most of what he found were a few empty boxes. He came across a tied bundle which he quickly brought and opened on the floor in front of the rest of the team. Inside he found a true treasure.

"Our weapons!" He exclaimed with excitement as he pulled out his twin blades.

Finn was quick to snatch up his crossbow. "Oh, daddy missed you so much." He said as he gave it a light kiss.

Junko picked up his knuckle dusters and gave them a quick slam together. "Not even a speck of energy left in the crystals though." He said in a sad tone.

"Why did they even bother to bring them anyway?" Piper said as she picked up her staff.

"As trophies!" A voice yelled from the door way of the cargo room.

They all turned to see the angry sneer of none other than the Dark Ace. "Not that those powerless pieces of trash will be able to help you now." He said as he pulled his signature sword from his back and engaged the crystal energy, giving it a menacing red glow. "Now, who wants to die first?"

The Storm Hawks were in for another fight. And, without working weapons, they weren't sure if they could win.

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This chapter was going to be longer, but then I realized it was getting really long already, lol. So next one will be out tomorrow. Look forward to it. But be sure to still review this one. :)

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	19. Ch18 Determination

Rolling on into the next. Prepare for the fight scene!

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Heart of Darkness...Determination

Dark Ace moved closer to The Storm Hawks with his sword drawn. He stopped a few yards from where they stood and began to look over the ragged team, as if gauging how much strength they had left. He must not have thought much of it as he let a dark smile cross his face and shook his head with a small laugh.

"I must admit I'm surprised that you were able to escape your cell. And the fact that your merb pet is with you means that you already gave Heron a visit." He poised himself in a battle ready position. "So, did you kill him?"

"No." Aerrow said defiantly. "Your the murders, not us." Aerrow prepared himself to strike out against Dark Ace, not sure that if his blades would last long without working crystals.

"And that means your weak." Ace said as he moved quickly toward Aerrow.

Aerrow quickly raised his blades to block the strike. The blades collided with a quick shower of sparks. Aerrow pulled away from Dark Ace and looked his down at his blades to access the damage of the strike. The metal appeared to have melted slightly where Dark Ace's sword had hit, they were no match without crystal energy of their own. _These won't last long at this rate. _His thoughts were cut short as Dark Ace advanced again with a swipe at Aerrow's neck. Aerrow began to dodge and kept dodging through Ace's various attacks.

Piper, who saw the damage to Aerrow's blades, moved to help out her leader. She grabbed up the two staff weapons that she and Finn had taken off the two Talons earlier and removed their crystals. "Junko." She said to get her friends attention. "I need you distract Dark Ace for a bit."

"I'm not sure how long I can keep him distracted with empty knuckle dusters." Junko said in a worried tone.

Piper grabbed up the now powerless staffs. "Use these. They should be able to hold of a few strikes before they break. Hopefully I'll be done by then."

Junko nodded and grabbed up the staffs, holding them as one in his beefy hands. He then charged the Dark Ace with all the force he could muster.

Dark Ace was currently focused on Aerrow, so he didn't notice the large wallop suddenly run up and send him flying a few yards from a hard tackle. Ace quickly stood and turned his anger on the Wallop, lashing out with his sword. Junko blocked with the staffs, but could already feel them starting to break. _Hurry Piper, not sure if I can hold him._ He thought silently to himself as Dark Ace charged forward again.

Aerrow was also confused by Junko sudden charge, but was quickly pulled to Piper by Finn before he could think anymore on it.

"What's going on? Junko won't last long Against Ace even if he had working weapons." Aerrow said in a concerned tone.

"I'm trying to level the playing field." Piper said as she snatched the weapons from Aerrow's hands.

She quickly went to work opening the crystal casing and removing the powerless Blue Strikers from it. She quickly replaced them with the crystals she got from the staff. After making other small adjustments, she gave the blades back to Aerrow.

"These crystals are only meant to give quick bursts of energy, so I can't be sure how long they'll last in a sustained fight." She gave Aerrow a worried look as she spoke. "I turned down the power just enough to give you more time, but that means you can't really use them to block heavy blows.

"It'll have to do for now." Aerrow said as he turned to look back at Dark Ace. Junko was trying his best to hold Darl Ace, his staffs had already broken and he was trying to knock aside the blows the the broken halves. Aerrow started running forward, straight at the Dark Ace. "Junko! Fall back!" Aerrow yelled as he activated his blades, a faint glow covering them.

Dark Ace turned in time to block Aerrow's strike with his sword. Using Aerrow's momentum, Dark Ace quickly turned Aerrow blades to the side and spun on his heal to deliver a kick to Aerrow's mid-section as he moved him to the side. Aerrow felt himself sprawl out on the ground from Dark Ace's kick. He quickly rolled onto his side, just in time to avoid Dark Ace's sword as it plunged a few inches into the floor. Aerrow lept to his feet and brought his weapons around to point at Dark Ace, who had just freed his sword from the floor.

Dark Ace lunged forward again, his sword aiming for Aerrow's stomach. Aerrow brought one of his blades down, knocking Dark Ace's sword to the side. Dark Ace quickly recovered by bringing his sword back around to slice at Aerrow's shoulder. Aerrow brought up both blades to block the strike, his arms strained under the force of the blow. The weak energy around the blades wasn't enought to hold back all the damage, causing small cracks to appear on the surface of the metal. Aerrow saw this and swept himself out from underneath Dark Ace's sword.

Dark Ace let a smile cross his face as he brought his sword around and stared at Aerrow. "It doesn't matter if I defeat you anymore Aerrow." Dark Ace said as he swung forward again.

Aerrow quickly dodged to the side. "Oh yeah? And why's that?" Aerrow asked as he moved forward to strike at Dark Ace.

"It's simple!" Dark Ace yelled, knocking Aerrow strike to the side with a one armed swing of his sword. He used is othe arm to punch Aerrow in the face, hard. Aerrow was knocked down, his blades skidded away from him and his vision blurred. Dark Ace stood over him, an arrogant look on his face. "You've already lost." He said with a calm tone as he gripped his sword tighter and raised it above his head. The crystal energy flared on the blade.

"_No!" _The group of friends yelled in almost unison as they looked in horror from where they stood.

Ace smiled and swung his sword around. Instead of slicing down at a defenseless Aerrow, he fired off two quick burts of energy at the cargo ship's engines. The blasts hit firmly and immediatley turned the once working engines into scrap.

"You don't get to die yet, but your not going anywhere." Dark Ace said with a laugh as he holstered his balde once more on his back. He turned away and started heading for the edge of the platform.

Aerrow felt confusion as he watched Dark Ace walk away from him. "Your just going to let us go?" Aerrow said as he picked himself up off the deck.

"Go?" Dark Ace said with a small laugh, turning to look at Aerrow as he stood on the edge of the platform. "Aerrow, you and your little group have nowhere to go anymore." He started laughing harder now as he simply leaned back ad fell backkwards off the platform.

Aerrow was shocked by what he just saw and quickly rushed forward to look down. As he reached the edge, Dark Ace flew back up into view, his glider wings extended and the thrusters on.

"You shall all bear witness now to the end of your _free_ Atmos, and the rise of Cyclonia. Enjoy the view." He said and started to laugh as he flew up towards the top floors of the citadel.

The other gathered around Aerrow and looked off into the distance. The carriers were closer now, they had all been to distracted by Dark Ace to notice how much closer they had gotten. Aerrow looked over at the ruined engines of the cargo ship, his hope dwindling. He looked back at his team, searching their faces and seeing the despair in their eyes.

He couldn't let this happen, not like this. He needed to act. Aerrow picked up his battered blades from the floor, frowning at the damage. He holstered them on his back and began moving back into the citadel.

Finn ran up to Aerrow's left side, holding his crossbow in his hands. "So what's the plan?"

"Not a clue." Aerrow said as he kept moving forward. "But I'd say heading up is a good direction."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Junko said as he ran up to Aerrow's right side.

"Escape is no longer an option, and we have no way of warning the fleet. So our only option left is to take Cyclonis head on." Aerrow said trying to keep his determination.

Piper watched the boys moving into the citadel from where she stood on the cargo ship. Stork was sitting on a bench that was built into the wall, trying his best to keep from aggravating his wounds.

"You need to go with them." Stork said as he looked at Piper. "Not that we aren't all doomed anyway, but I think the chances are better in you go with them." Stork said with a slight smile.

"What about you?" Piper asked, casting a worried look at Stork.

"I'll be fine for now, but i would only slow you guys down if i went." Stork said as he laid down on the bench, stretching himself out. "Mmmmm, that feels better."

Piper walked up to Stork, looking down at him with the same worried look. "I can't just leave you alone here."

Stork looked up at her with a small smirk. "I doubt the Cyclonians are worried about capturing an injured merb who casually resting on a broken ship. Besides, I always feel more comfortable on a ship, even if it is a Cyclonian piece of crap." He said with a small laugh, wincing as his ribs reminded him of his injury. "Besides I'm sure they're going into a lot more danger than I'll face here."Stork then started to turn a dark green in the face.

Piper felt worried a the sudden change in Stork's appearance. "Are you sure your okay?"

"Yeah." Stork said in a slight mutter. "Just thought that I might not see you again."

"I'm not gong to lose to to these guys any time soon." Piper said with a grin.

Stork felt his heart rise into his throat at her smile. "Piper, there's something i need to say."

"What?" said as she leaned closer to Stork.

"Um, I..." Stork began to stutter now, Piper being so close was making it hard for him to think staright. "I really like..."

Piper looked at him with a slight bit of confusion.

"I'd really like some sandcakes when whenever you get the chance to make some." Stork said in a huff, his face a deep shade of green now.

Piper smiled again as stood back up. "When we win, and are safe again, I'll make a whole batch just for you."

"I'd like that." Stork said in an embarrassed tone. His thoughts though were more focused on what he had wanted to say. _I completely choked. Something has to be wrong with me. Some sort of secondary infection that has risen from all this strain from being injured._

Piper began to move away again, moving to catch up with Aerrow, leaving Stork on the cargo vessel. As she moved through the cargo room with all the crates, she noticed a crate that looked different than the rest. She moved towards it and examined it. It wasn't a normal crate, it was made of a thicker material and was securely clamped shut. Piper removed the clamps and opened the crate and looked over the contents.

_One of these might come in handy. _Piper thought as she reached in and removed one of the crystals inside, they were leechers. _Of course they wouldn't be affected by a power draining field, they drain power already. Might come in handy. _She placed the crystal in a small shielded bag she carried on her belt.

She caught up with Aerrow who gave her a quick look that showed he was happy to see her come along. "What about Stork?"

"He's staying behind. He feels he would only get in the way." Piper said, her voice still carrying a concerned tone.

"It's probably for the best. He's already pretty hurt." Aerrow said as he bagan to pick up the pace. "We better hurry, it's a long way up."

* * *

I wanted this out yesterday, but got dargged into something. I hope you enjoyed that cause now things are really going to start rolling. Only a few more chapters left for this story.


	20. Ch19 Countdown to Destruction

Stryker is here! Cyclonis is ready for him. And the Storm Hawks are moving to save the day. Who will prevail? Let's read and see...  
Quick note: There's a lot of perspective switching here. Mostly because a lot of things are happening very fast now. Enjoy.

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Countdown to Destruction

Stork lay on his back, the others were gone now. He could still feel a dull throbbing in his chest reminding him of his injuries, but it was quieter now. He looked around at his surroundings and frowned. _Who designs these things? _He thought to himself. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked over at where his friends had gone back into the citadel. He felt regret for not having gone with them, but he knew that in his current state he would only be a burden.

He stood up on shaky legs and moved out from the cargo hold of the of the vessel and looked around at both engines. "Hmmmmm..." Stork began to think. In the corner of the cargo hold, he could make out a tool box that was most likely meant for basic maintenance. "Well, I have nothing better to do."

**........**

Aerrow and the rest of his group moved as quickly as they could through the enemy complex. They didn't know the exact way, but they kept to any path that looked like it went up. There was only one problem rolling through Aerrow's head at this moment. It wasn't their lack of suitable weaponry, or how ragged they felt from all the stress the current situations had been putting them through.

It was time. Every minute it took them to reach the top was another minute the fleet came closer to it's own destruction. Aerrow didn't mind the thought of Stryker receiving his just desserts, but he knew there were people up there who were innocent of Stryker's scheme. He wouldn't let let those people come to harm, he couldn't. Every step he tried to move faster, push himself just a little bit more. Every flight of stairs, every long hallway, more time ticked off the clock.

Nobody spoke, they were to focused on one thought. _Please, let us get there in time!_

_**........**_

Cyclonis stood on the balcony, a sour expression could be seen on her face from underneath her cowl. "You should have just killed them." She said to Dark Ace as he kneeled before her.

"All due respect, Master." Dark Ace said in a respectful tone. "It was you who spared them in the first place because you wanted them to suffer slowly."

"Chained and imprisoned is much different than being allowed to run free." Cyclonis angrily told Dark Ace. "Sometimes I wonder just how loyal you are to me, Dark Ace."

"Master, please, there is nothing those foolish brats can do." Dark Ace said in a pleading voice. "In moments that idiot Stryker will assure the fall of Atmosia and every other terra foolish enough to stand against us. And you know I would give my life before I ever let anything hurt you."

"Yes, I know." Cyclonis said as she motioned Dark Ace to rise. "It's just those Storm Hawks have a bad habit of interfering with my plans just as everything is coming together." She looked at the oncoming ships, a smile visibly showed from under her hood. "I'd say it's about time, wouldn't you?"

"Indeed." Dark Ace said with a grin to match Cyclonis's "We should move out of sight until our prey is suitably trapped."

The pair moved into the shadows of the throne room and continued to watch the oncoming ships. Dark Ace began to take note of the ships in formation with Stryker's Atmosian Guard ships.

"I recognize the Rex Guardians, Screaming Queens, and the Absolute Zeros. I don't know the others." Dark Ace said in a flat tone.

"It doesn't matter." Cyclonis said dismissively. "After today, no one will remember any of them. Forgotten souls that will become lost in the sea of chaos we are about to unleash."

Across the room, a light began to blink on a console. Dark Ace moved over to the console to investigate.

"It's the forward turret mounts." Dark Ace reported to Cyclonis. "The enemy is in range."

"Tell them to watch for my signal." Cyclonis said as she began to move forward from the shadows. She looked back at Dark Ace, a dark smile on her lips. "How about we turn the lights back on for our guests?" She asked in a laughing tone.

Dark Ace returned her smile as he began signaling orders to various points through the citadel. He could almost hear all the lights and devices coming back online around him as power flowed freely through the citadel once more.

_I wish I could see the dumb look on tat fool's face right now. _Dark Ace thought to himself the a small laugh.

Cyclonis was standing in the light now, in full view of all the ships before her. She raised her hand to signal her troops, the turrets turning to point at the encroaching ships. The cowl around her face began to unfurl into a high collar, revealing her smiling face. She brought her hand down with as a firm signal.

The turrets immediately began to bombard the the fleet, filling the sky with energy. There was a moment of hesitation before the fleet of ships began returning fire, the rear squadrons already scrambling to take defensive formations. Blasts of energy fired from the Atmosian Guard ships, spraying forward to where Cyclonis was standing. The blasts moved forward at great speed and suddenly erupted in small explosion in mid-air, yards before hitting there targets. Another wave of energy was sent flying, only to meet the same result.

**........**

"Sir, the enemy base appears to be protected by an energy shield!" One of Stryker's bridge crew yelled from his monitoring station.

"I can see that!" Stryker yelled. The floor around him shook as repeated blasts from the mounted turrets peppered the hull with blast after blast. "Keep firing! Their shields can't hold up forever!"

"Sir!" The crewman from the monitoring station yelled to get his commander's attention.

"What!?" Stryker yelled back, his agitation clear by the sound of his voice.

"I don't understand these readings I'm getting on the enemy's shields" The crewman said, confusion clear in his voice.

Stryker moved forward to see the readings for himself. He pushed the crewman out of the way and began to look them over. He wasn't an expert in what he was seeing, but he knew these readings.

_Their the same as the the shield emitter_ _that I had put on The Condor._ Stryker's thoughts went wild as he realized what this meant. _They must have perfected the technology, but how did they work out the energy build up?_ Another blast of energy hit the hull, shaking the ship. An idea suddenly hit Styker. _Oh my god._

"Stop firing! Order all ships to stop firing!" Stryker yelled in a panic at his crew.

His personal aide gave him a confused look. "Sir?"

"Don't you see?" Stryker said in a frantic voice. "Their firing our own energy back at us! Now, order all ships to cease fire and focus on evasive maneuvers."

The crewman at the communications station began to send out the orders to the rest of the fleet. All of Styker's ships immediately ceased fire, but the independent squadrons still kept a steady stream of energy blasts flowing at the citadel.

"Why are they still firing!?" Stryker yelled at his communications crew.

The lead crewman was holding a headset to his ears as he tried to decipher the communications from the other squadrons. "I don't know sir. the Rex Guardians are saying something about it being against their honor, or code, to abandon a fight. The screaming Queens are just screaming, I'm not sure why. And I can't even begin to understand what the Absolute Zeros are saying. And the rest of the squadrons appear to be to busy launching counter attacks to even bother to reply."

Stryker slammed his fist on the nearest console. His plan was unraveling around him, and his state of mind was deteriorating along with it. _They must have known some how._ Stryker's thoughts were a jumble as he tried to think of a way to survive this. _I'll have to use **that**, it's the only option left._

_"_Order all ships to retreat and prepare missile pod number four!" Stryker yelled to his bridge crew as he tried to keep his footing on the shaking deck.

Stryker's personal aide turned to look at his commander, a look of shock on his face. "Sir?"

"You heard me, now follow my orders!" Stryker strode toward the windshield and looked at where Cyclonis stood with a smug smile on her face. _You think you've won, but I'll shall still win._

_"_Sir." Stryker's aide approached. "Missile pod four is ready to fire."

"Wait until our ships are a safe distance, then I will give the order to fire." Stryker said without taking his gaze from Cyclonis. _My win._

_**........**_

Cyclonis watched as Stryker's ships began to pull back away from the citadel. She almost felt like laughing at the pitiful turned away from the cowardly retreat of Stryker's fleet to look at Dark Ace.

Dark Ace gave his master a amused expression. He knew what was coming next, but he asked anyway. "Your orders, master?"

"Rise." She said simply. "Tell them to rise and conquer." She said with a smile on her lips as a spark of energy crossed her eyes.

**........**

"Sir!" One of Stryker's crew yelled from a sensor panel. "We're getting readings all around us. Multiple signatures of enemy ships everywhere!"

"Where!?" Stryker looked out in every direction he could see from where he stood by the windshield. "I don't see anything!"

The crewman looked up from his panel at Stryker, a look of fear on his face. "Below us."

Stryker quickly moved out to the forward balcony and leaned over the railing, into the cloud cover the spanned over the wastelands below. He saw shadows growing from within the clouds start growing. Then from these shadows, carriers emerged carrying the symbol of Cyclonia. From their decks and hanger, multiple Talon squadrons launched and began to swarm the fleet.

Stryker's retreat was cut off by a fleet of ships that dwarfed his by nearly double the numbers.

"Orders, Sir!?" Stryker's aide asked pleadingly, hoping to receiving some hope from his commander.

Stryker only stood there, speechless and afraid.

_**........**_

The Storm Hawks were near a window looking out onto the fleet when the battle had begun. They had seen the situation unfold as Stryker tried to retreat, only to be cut off by Cyclonian forces.

Finn broke the silence first. "I guess that explains why this place seems so empty."

No one said anything else. What else was there to say? They were to late.

_**........**_

_No!_ Stryker thought in a frantically. _I won't let it end like this! I won't be some fool who fell right Cyclonis trap!_

He looked at his aide, madness in his eyes. "You said missile pod four was ready to fire, correct?"

The aide gave his commander a confused look. "Yes sir. But, we're to close to even..."

He was cut off as Stryker moved past him to address the crew. "We will not lose here! Prepare to fire the Aurora Missile!"

* * *

dunn, Dunn, DUNN! Oh yeah! things are coming to an end, but not before some more carnage can occur.


	21. Ch20 Light to Dark

Things aren't looking good. And it will only get worse. Enjoy.

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Light to Dark

The Aurora Missile was one of the first devices that Stryker's scientists had managed to create from the small amount of research stolen from Cyclonis. The original plans were more formula than blueprint. It called for using the Aurora Stone as a catalyst in a device that would create a small chain reaction in surrounding ambient energy. The intended result was to have a bomb that could erase an entire system of terras, but the formula proved that the resulting energy would also burn out the atmosphere of the entire Atmos. So it was an abandoned project, never brought past the initial planning stages.

That is, until Stryker got his hands on it. He knew, from what his scientists who analyzed the formula told him, that the Aurora Stone was to powerful. But, there was no longer an Aurora Stone, only shards. And so it was, from many arguments and begging sessions with The Sky Council, Stryker was given the smallest piece of the stone. The energy produced would be smaller than the original scope of the design, but enough energy would still be created to remove a terra from existence. Stryker had the device installed in a missile, so he could be at a good range if he ever needed to use it. He was always anxious about what the circumstances might be where he would be forced to play his one last trump card. Just how bad of a day would it have to be?

That day had come.

_**........**_

Stryker's crew simply looked at him, various looks of shock on their faces. The rumbling of the ship, as it withstood repeated attack, could not break the tense atmosphere of the bridge.

Stryker's aide was the first to speak. "Sir, if we fire now, we will be caught in the blast. There's no way we would survive such an explosion."

Stryker thought for a moment on what his aide had told him. "Your right." Stryker said as he stepped towards his aide, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We will be destroyed, and all The Atmos will remember our sacrifice." He turned to look at crewman manning the weapons console. "Prepare to fire."

"Sir, I don't think you understand, everyone here will die." Stryker's aide said pleadingly as he moved close to his commander. "We can't sacrifice everyone here just to defeat Cyclonis. If we concentrate our fire on one point of the Cyclonians blockade, we can still manage to break free and retreat."

"No." Stryker said, desperation in his voice. "We will not surrender, and there will be no retreat. We will either win or die trying. Now, prepare to fire the missile!"

The whole of the crew was feeling a sense of shared fear at the sudden shift in their commander's state of mind. Stryker's aide tried again to calm his leader. "Sir, we have to retre..." He was quickly cut off by the back of Stryker's fist as it came across his face.

"_SHUT UP!"_ Stryker yelled as his aide flew across the room, crashing against the communications console. Stryker drew his sword from his belt, activating it's crystal to give it a strong golden glow. "We will fire the missile and destroy Cyclonis and the threat of Cyclonia once and for all! Even if we have to die in the process! Anyone who tries to stop me will be branded a traitor and Cyclonian sympathizer, and will be put to an immediate execution by me! Am I clear!?" He pointed his sword at the crew to emphasize his words. Anger was in his eyes, and the beginnings of madness.

"Um..." A female voice rang out over the ship's intercom system. "Wait just eh second d'ere now. Did I just hear that Stryker guy say something about us all dying here, eh?"

"Yes, I believe we did." A confident male voice now came on the intercom. "And, I believe it only right that we receive an explanation at once Stryker."

Stryker looked at the communications console where had just sent his aide sprawling. The impact of the landing had knocked on the all-frequency transmitter. Everything he had just said had been heard by everybody in broadcast range, both his ships and the Cyclonians.

"Stryker, respond." The male voice came back on, Stryker recognized it as Harrier now. "I want an explanation of your last transmission." Harrier's voice sounded strained, no doubt he was also busy dealing with the enemy's attacks.

The crewman manning the communication console quickly spoke up. "The general has lost it! He's planning to fire..."

With a loud roar of anger, Stryker unleashed a bolt of energy from his sword into the console, cutting off transmission. "Traitor!" Stryker yelled as he moved forward to swing his sword at the frightened crewman.

The crewman quickly dodged the strike and ran for the rear hatchway, desperate to escape Stryker's rage.

"Somebody stop that traitor!" Stryker yelled as he unleashed more bolts of energy across the bridge to try and hit the escaping crewman.

Instead of following Stryker's command, the rest of the bridge crew quickly moved to follow their escaping comrade's example. The bridge was a flurry with men escaping through the hatch, a couple just ran over to a porthole and jumped out the side, deploying their parachutes once they were clear.

"Cowards!" Stryker yelled at his now empty bridge. "Fine! If you want something done right..." He moved to the weapons console and punched in a series on commands. "...you have to do it yourself." He pressed the launch button and could feel a sudden lurch as the missile freed itself from it's housing. Stryker moved to look out the windshield, watching as the missile launched upwards and began to arc it's way back down towards the Cyclonian citadel.

Stryker stood at the window, waiting for the end now. He had wished to get as much salvage as he could from the Cyclonians, who knows what other projects Cyclonis may have had going. Then he would have returned a hero, praised for his victory by all Atmos. But, he resigned himself to be a hero that sacrificed himself for the greater good, people would learn to love the memory of him. He looked at the ships around him, watching as they turned to flee. None of them would escape the blast in time, no one would be left to tell how things really happened. Stryker let a smile cross his face as he looked back to the descending missile. He spread his arms, as if to welcome the coming destruction.

The missile came down on the citadel and blinding white light washed over everything.

**........**

Aerrow and his group quickly ascended the remaining stairs, they were as high as they could go.

"This must be the throne room." Aerrow said as he moved towards the door, drawing his blades from his back as he went.

"Looks a little different from the last time we were here." Finn said as he looked at the door. "Course we did bring the house down last time too, literally."

Aerrow took a deep breath as he moved to open the door. He carefully opened the door inwards, being carefull not to make any noise. As the door opened, he got a look at a large room with a large chair in the back on a platform that had a series of steps that lead up to it. He didn't see anyone in the room and was worried they had come to the wrong place.

"Come on in, silly Storm Hawks." A familiar voice came from inside of the room.

There was an opening along side of the throne room that lead outside to a railed balcony. Aerrow and company walked slowly inside, keeping themselves at the ready in case of trouble. As they moved closer, more of the balcony came into view. There they could see Dark Ace leaning with his back against the railing, and to his left side they could see the back of Cyclonis herself.

"We're here to stop you." Aerrow said he he raised his blades, prepared for a fight.

Dark Ace and Cyclonis shared a small laugh before Cyclonis began to speak, turning to face the Storm Hawks as she did. "No, I don't think you will. Actually, I expect you will let me finish what I have started here."

Confusion showed on Aerrow's face, as it did on his friends' faces as well. Looking past Cyclonis, Aerrow could see the armada of ships Stryker had brought engaged in a pitched battle against the Cyclonian forces that surrounded them. Now that the ships were closer, Aerrow could make out several of carriers that belonged to squadrons heknew as friends. He knew that if he stopped Cyclonis here, he could still save them.

"Why would we let you do anything?" Aerrow asked, keeping himself ready to defend against Cyclonis.

"It's quite simple really." Cyclonis said with an almost playful tone. "Either I complete my plan, or everyone here will die."

"Just because your ships have our friends surrounded, doesn't mean I will just give into your demands." Aerrow said in a defiant tone.

"Don't be a fool Aerrow." Dark Ace spoke up now. "We're not the only enemies you have here, remember?"

As if on cue, a transmission broke out on the citadel's loud speakers. "We will fire the missile and destroy Cyclonis and the threat of Cyclonia once and for all! Even if we have to die in the process! Anyone who tries to stop me will be branded a traitor and Cyclonian sympathizer, and will be put to an immediate execution by me! Am I clear!?"

Aerrow recognized the voice as Stryker's, he could feel anger rise in him as he heard him sound off over the speakers. Next he could hear responses from the various squadrons questioning what they had just heard. The Storm Hawks were just as equally curious to know what Stryker meant.

Another voice yelled out across the speakers now. "The general has lost it! He's planning to fire..." The voice was broken of by a sharp staticy hiss.

Aerrow looked at Cyclonis, still keeping his blades ready. "What's going on?"

Cyclonis smirked as she spoke. "The ever incompetent _Sky General _Stryker..." She rolled her eyes as she said his name. "...plans to destroy this entire terra since he can't defeat me by normal means. And, he's going to use a single missile to do it."

"That's crazy." Piper spoke up in a frantic tone. "The amount of energy that would require is to much for one missile. Unless of course he had something as powerful as..." Piper let her words fade, realization hitting her at last.

"Yes Piper." Cyclonis said in a affirming tone. "The Aurora Stone or, at least, one of it's shards anyway."

"But that much energy would destroy everything for miles in every direction." Piper said as she lowered her staff, she could feel a cold sense of dread working up her spine.

"Everyone here will die." Cyclonis said, no hint of fear in her voice. "Of course, I have been dead once already, not really a fan. So unless you let me continue, we'll all get to share the experience together."

Cyclonis abd Dark Ace didn't move, they simply stood and stared at the Storm Hawks. The Storm Hawks themselves looked at each other, uncertainty on all their faces.

Aerrow was unsure about everything Cyclonis had said. "She may be bluffing."

Junko was looking past Aerrow to the ships engaged in battle outside and said. "I don't know, I'm pretty sure that I'm seeing the crew of the lead ship bailing out. It's not even damaged enough to even think of doing that."

Aerrow turned to look. Sure enough, the crew of the lead ship, most likely Stryker's, were jumping out, some were escaping on sky rides. The other ships were turning away to take on the Cyclonian ships in an attempt to break through and escape.

"Well that can't be good." Finn said, stating the obvious.

They all suddenly heard a loud noise come from Stryker's ship. Looking close they could make out the shape of a missile shooting up and preparing to arc back down at them.

"So." Cyclonis said, breaking the tension. "What will it be? Shall I simply stand here and wait for oblivion again, with the rest of you joining me. Or, will you submit and do nothing while I complete my plans." She said before adding in a playful tone. "Choose quickly."

Aerrow looked at his crew then back out at the escaping cruisers that carried others he called friends. As much as he hated it, he knew he had no choice.

Aerrow fell to his knees. "Do it."

Cyclonis smiled triumphantly as she turned to look at the oncoming missile. She leaned her staff against the railing and raised her hands. She looked at Dark Ace with a side glance. "You may want to step back for this." Dark Ace smiled at her then made his way back into the throne room to stand next to the Storm Hawks.

Cyclonis closed her eyes and concentrated on the energy around her and within her. She pictured the energy flowing out of her towards the fast approaching missile. Sparks of energy shot up from her hands connecting with the missile. The missile stopped just a few feet from where Cyclonis stood and released it's energy. White light flowed out everywhere, making Dark Ace and the Storm Hawks cover their eyes from the blinding rays. Cyclonis felt the energy was over her, letting it flow around her and into her. She reached out with her own energy and , mixed it with the white light around her, changing it. The light quickly faded, returning to how it was before the explosion of energy.

Piper uncovered her eyes and looked at Cyclonis. What she saw sent shivers down her spine and caused her brain to feel like it was being set on fire. The rest of the Storm Hawks were experiencing similar feelings. Cyclonis was standing under a sphere of pure energy with her arms raised, as if she were holding it up, which Piper suspected she was. The color of the energy was more like pure light than an actual color, but it was starting to fade. It was now turning grey and getting darker by the second as well as becoming smaller. It kept going this way until it became a small ball no bigger than a fist and it color was complete blackness.

Cyclonis smiled and brought the floating ball of energy close to her chest, almost as if she were about to hug it, and with both hands she pushed it into her chest. Cylonis closed her eyes and smiled a dark smile. The Storm Hawks were to shocked and confused to even know what to do, so they just stayed where they were, speechless.

Dark Ace shook himself out of his own shock. Even though he knew what was coming, it was still an unbelievable sight to behold. "How do you feel master?" Dark Ace asked as he took a cautious step towards Cyclonis.

"It feels like..." She opened her eyes revealing complete darkness where her regular eyes had been. She raised one of her arms, a ball of dark energy formed in her hand. It shot out towards one of the Atmosian Guards' retreating ships. It plunged into the ship and instead of an explosion, the ship seamed to cave in on itself. When it had compacted down as far as it would go, it exploded in a shock wave that sent the surrounding ships hurtling out in all directions.

Cyclonis smiled a dark smile and spoke, her voice now carrying a demonic tone, "Perfection!"

* * *

Just a little more to go. But things have taken a strong turn for the worst. How will the Storm Hawks prevail against supercharged Cyclonis? Guess you'll have to wait and see. Till next time. Oh, and make sure to review. ;)

Quick note: Remember Cyclonis has been shown to change the properties of crystals on command in episodes before. It's a bit suspect if you ask me.


	22. Ch21 Final Destination

Sorry for the long wait on this one. I got a little sick and lost my ability to think straight for a couple days. To make up for it, here's an extra long sized chapter. Enjoy...maybe

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Final Destination

Striker stood on the bridge with his arms still open, waiting for the coming destruction with his eyes closed. After a few moments had passed, he opened his eyes. Where he was expecting a wave of destruction, he saw nothing. Stryker let his arms fall back to his sides as he stared at out the space before him.

_Where's the explosion?_ Stryker thought frantically. _What happened to the light?_

He looked down where Cyclonis stood, his anger rising as his gaze shifted. He saw Cyclonis hold a sphere of raw energy above her, it's size shrinking as it became a darker color. Stryker gripped the railing as he watched Cyclonis take the energy into herself then fire a ball of energy at one of his retreating ships.

"How?" He asked to the empty air around him. He felt the anger rising in him, madness filling his thoughts. "_HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?"_ He yelled with all the breath in his lungs. Stryker began to notice the other people around Cyclonis. Dark Ace, his smug smile irked Stryker to no end. And then he noticed a small group on their knees near where Cyclonis stood.

_The Storm Hawks!? _Strykers thoughts raged again _They're alive too!? How? Did nothing go according to plan? _Stryker let his thoughts wander before coming to the only conclusion that made since to him at the moment, the desperation that he felt was clouding his judgment. _Of course! _Stryker's thoughts began to put together events that must have occurred to have this happen.

"It all makes sense now!" Stryker yelled to no one but himself. "The Storm Hawks are working with Cyclonis! Yes, of course. That's how they have had so many _encounters _with Cyclonia and survived. It was all a trick to get people to love them and not me, the real protector of Atmos! Well I'll have none of it. I will personally see to it that both Cyclonis and The Storm Hawks are put to death right now!" Stryker turned and made his way into the bowels of his ship, still shaking from the battle that raged outside. "I'll show them! I'll show them all!"

Stryker felt the ship rock heavily from some unknown force outside the ship. He nearly lost his footing as the ship was bucked from his feet by the force of the blow.

"It would seem that the battle outside is getting a little heated." Stryker said cautiously to himself. "Best move quickly." He then picked up his pace as he moved towards the ship's hanger. It was time to take the fight to the enemy.

_**........**_

Aerrow stared in horror at the devastation Cyclonis had caused with a single shot of energy. Many of the ships that had been close by had been sent hurtling out in all directions. One carrier had collided with another, flames could now be seen erupting from their lower decks. He recognized carrier belonging to the Absolute Zeros as it was sent flying straight into the line of fire of the surrounding Cyclonian cruisers. He didn't see a single parachute from the crushed Atmosian Guard ship.

Aerrow felt anger rise in him as he regained his footing and charged Cyclonis, activating his blades as he charged. Dark Ace grabbed his own blade and knocked Aerrow's to the ground and brought his fist around to connect with Aerrow's chin. Aerrow sprawled backwards onto the floor, he had been to focused on Cyclonis to properly guard against Dark Ace. Cyclonis turned to look at Aerrow with her dark gaze, then turned her attention to Aerrow's blades that lay on the floor before her.

"Not exactly your usual color is it?" She said, her voice still carrying a demonic tone. She waved her hand at the blades, raising them off the floor by will alone. "I'm guessing Piper did some modifying so you could use some of my soldier's crystals. Not a bad idea, but we can't have you waving these around anymore." With a simple wave of her hand the crystal energy dissipated from Aerrow's blades in a brightly colored mist. She let the now, once again, powerless blades drop to the floor.

Piper still on her knees, the shock of the situation keeping her from standing. "How is this even possible? That much energy should be ripping you apart."

Cyclonis smiled at Piper. "When you live and breathe with energy constantly flowing through your body, you learn a few tricks." Cyclonis let her smile slip from her face, taking on a more determined expression. "But enough with the demonstrations and explanations. I have an Atmos to conquer. And if you think that this power is impressive...'' She began to hover off the ground now, letting herself glide up a few meters in the air. "Just wait until I get my hands on he remaining shards of the Aurora Stone." She reached out with her left hand and pulled her staff from where it leaned into her grasp. "But, sadly, you won't be there to see it." She said in a mocking tone as she reached out with her right hand, black bands made of pure energy shot from her palm. The bands quickly bound the Storm Hawks hands to the deck, putting them in a bent over position on their knees.

"What are you going to do with us now you monster?" Aerrow spat out in the most defiant tone he could muster as he struggled against his bonds.

"Do?" Cyclonis laughed. "I'm not going to do anything. But, my ever faithful servant, Dark Ace, has had his heart set on dispatching you personally. I wanted you to live long enough to see my ascension and the beginnings of your world's end, and since I have what I want now, it's his turn." She gestured with her hand towards Dark Ace.

Dark Ace bowed his head respectfully to Cyclonis, then turned to step towards Aerrow. "I have waited a long time for this day. You were better than most of the worthless sky knights I've faced. I hope that brings you some comfort in the afterlife." Dark Ace raised his glowing blade above his head, preparing to bring it down on Aerrow's exposed neck.

_**Honk! Honk!**_

The sound of a loud air horn suddenly blared out, braking through the tense air around the group. Cyclonis, still hovering a few meters from the balcony floor, turned in the direction of the noise just in time to see the front end of a small cargo vessel slam into her. Cyclonis's concentration was broken, and the bands around the Storm Hawks wrist faded away, just in time for them to roll out of the path of the speeding cargo vessel as it drove into the throne room, destroying the wall in the process.

Dark Ace, who had also just barely managed to dodge the incoming vessel, found himself on his back and without his sword. He saw it laying on the ground a few feet from him and quickly scrambled across the floor to retrieve it. But another pair of hands found their way to the sword's handle first, Aerrow's hands.

"I'm not used to a two-handed sword." Aerrow said as he steadied the blade at Dark Ace. "But I know enough."

Dark Ace said nothing a he stared daggers at Aerrow as he sat himself on the floor.

"Is everyone else okay?" Aerrow asked over his shoulder without taking his eyes off Dark Ace.

The rest of the group quickly appeared from the rubble, dusting themselves off.

"Someone wanna tell me what just happened?" Finn said with a confused expression as he looked at the crashed ship.

"Well first the ship was over there." Junko said as he pointed out towards the open sky, then pointed at the remains of the wall the ship had crashed through. "Then it came speeding through there, and now it's sitting here." He finished with a matter of fact tone.

Finn sighed and rolled his eyes. "I was more curious about the why."

As if to answer Finn's question, the rear door of the small vessel opened, and smoke began to billow out from the opening. A thin figure appeared through the smoke, clutching his side.

"Some one remind me to never fly a Cyclonian ship again. They're poorly designed pieces crap with very poor safety equipment." Stork appeared from the smoke, he grimaced as he gripped his side as he leaned against the doorway. "Pretty sure I broke something....again."

"Stork!" Piper yelled and ran up to the injured merb, giving him a concerned look. "What happened to staying behind where it was safe?"

"I got bored, so I started working on this hunk of junk." Stork said with a slight laugh. "Besides, that bright flash of light kinda gave me the feeling that no place was safe anymore. And judging by what I saw out there on the balcony, I was right."

"Looks like you got here just in time." Finn said from where he was still staring at the damage. "You just kicked Cyclonis's butt, and you only had to crash a ship into her to do it."

Aerrow was still keeping the sword leveled at Dark Ace, thinking of what the next move should be. "Stork, can we still use that ship to get out of here?"

Stork shook his head. "That crash may not of killed me, but it did kill the flight controls, and the engines weren't exactly in the best shape before anyway. They would have maybe lasted five minutes, ten at best. Now they're pretty dead, so this thing's not going anywhere any time soon."

A spark of energy shot across the hull of the ship, and the frame began to rumble.

Stork moved back from the ship. "Or not."

Dark Ace let out a laugh as he stared at Aerrow. "You fools. Do you really think Cyclonis could be be taken down that easy?"

Finn let out a groan. "Awww, c'mon. Nothing about this whole screwed situation has been easy."

The sound of screeching metal filed the room as the entire ship shook. And then as suddenly as it started, the noise stopped.

Finn, who had been holding his breath, let out a deep sigh. "Guess we're okay."

A loud _Thud_ could be heard right as the ship flew backwards and out into the war torn sky, then fell into the wastelands below. Everyone now beheld the image of an enraged Cyclonis, bolts of energy sparked off of her in all directions. Her eyes were radiating dark energy as her mouth twisted into a snarl.

"I've had enough of these foolish games!" Cyclonis yelled in her dark demonic tone. "You will all die! _NOW!_"

With a loud yell, Cyclonis raised her hands and energy shot out like a lightning storm of darkness. The Storm Hawks quickly moved for cover, even Dark Ace had to dive out of the way of several arcs of energy.

Aerrow, with Radaar perched on his shoulders and Finn crouched by his feet, took cover behind a broken piece of wall, energy sparked all around them.

"Well I'd say this a _shocking _situation." Finn said with a slight grin while looking at Aerrow.

"Not really time for jokes Finn." Aerrow said as he tried to look around to get a look at Cyclonis only to duck back as a burst of energy shot past him.

"Sorry, nervous habit." Finn said with an anxious tone. "Any ideas on hoe to get out of this one?"

Aerrow tried to think, but the constant spurts of dark energy sparking all round them made it hard for him to concentrate. "A distraction would be nice."

"_Cyclonis!" _A voice yelled from outside the destroyed thrown room.

Finn peaked round to catch sight of where the voice had come from. "Oh man, now that bozo is here too."

Aerrow looked at Finn and raised an eyebrow. "Who?"

"Stryker." Finn said before adding in a mocking song. "_Here he comes to wreck the DAAAYYYY!!"_

Aerrow began to think. "Maybe we can use this."

Meanwhile, across the room, Junko, Piper and Stork were huddled behind a piece of hull plating that had broken off the cargo ship. From where Stork stood he had a good look at Stryker coming in hot on a sky ride that bore the usual gold and white colors of the Atmosian Guard.

"Here comes trouble." He said in a nervous voice.

Piper looked past him to get a good look at Stryker. "That's all we need right now, another madman bent on killing us."

Junko was already feeling nervous from all the energy that was shooting everywhere. "So, any ideas?" He asked Piper.

"Let's wait and see what Stryker does." Piper said in a reassuring tone to the nervous wallop. "He might give us an opening to turn the tables."

"Or he'll get blasted into a pile of cinders. I'm up for either." Stork said with a devilish grin.

Piper rolled her eyes at Stork, her thoughts scrambled to think of something that might work in this desperate situation. Only one plan kept resurfacing in her head, though she didn't like it, but she knew their might not be a choice anymore.

_**........**_

Stryker was flying at high speed on his personal skyride towards the citadel. He was going to see to everyone's demise personally, and this time there would be no mistakes and everyone would stay dead this time. He could see the inside of the throne throne room of the citadel which, for some reason he had missed, had a much bigger opening than he remembered. Inside he saw Cyclonis releasing torrents of dark energy in all directions.

"Cyclonis!" He yelled as he got closer.

Cyclonis turned to face Stryker, lowering her hands and ceasing he energy storm as she did. She cast her dark gaze at him, sending a small shiver of fear down his spine. Stryker quickly brought his skyride down onto the ruined balcony, hitting the brakes hard. He dismounted quickly and brought out his sword to level it at Cyclonis, golden energy radiating across the blade.

"Stryker, how nice of you to join our little party." Cyclonis said with a sneer, her voice still carrying it's dark tone. "You'll have to forgive the mess, we had a party crasher."

"Enough jokes!" Stryker yelled, his face turning a hard shade of red to match his rising rage. "It's time for you to die, and stay that way this time!" He jumped into the air, gold energy surrounding his body as he did. He gripped his sword with both hands ad raised it above his head. "Burning Crescent!" He roared as he brought his sword down in a hard swing, a wave of crystal energy forming off the tip. The energy flew out in a crescent shape towards Cyclonis, the energy raging like fire as it flew.

Cyclonis let out a bored sigh as she raised a hand, the wave of energy washing over her like an ocean wave on the rocks. Cyclonis gave Stryker an annoyed look. "Anything else?"

Srtyker stared at Cyclonis, confusion written on his face. With a few quick swings of his blade, Stryker sent several bolts of energy at Cyclonis. Cyclonis didn't even bother to raise her hand against the bolts this time, letting the bolts dissipate into a fine mist as they came close to her.

Cyclonis began to step towards Stryker. "Think for a second you idiot." Cyclonis said with a voice that reflected her annoyance towards Stryker. "I just stopped a bomb of unfathomable power with my sheer will alone. Do you really think your silly special move or any other crystal energy will hurt me anymore?"

Stryker could only stare at Cyclonis as she stepped slowly closer to him.

"Of course, there might be a way." Cyclonis said as she reached up with her hands to undo some of the clasps on the upper part of her tunic. "You could always try doing what your assassin did the first time I died." She pulled back a bit of her tunic to reaveal the connector plate on her bare chest. "Just stab me right through the chest. Unless, of course, your still a coward. To afraid to get your hands dirty this close to your target. It's much easier to use tricks and fools than just do it yourself." She was just in arms reach of Stryker now, she made no move to defend or attack as she stood before him. "Of course, the resulting release of energy from my body would kill you and everything else in the vicinity. But you were making that sacrifice anyway, so there's no need to hesitate. Unless of course, when it finally comes down to doing things yourself, you just don't have the guts."

Stryker simply stood there, his mind unable to cope with what he saw in front of his own eyes. Cyclonis's dark gaze seemed to pierce into his soul, freezing him where he stood. He knew what he wanted to do, but was unable to even move his arm. He had no sense of the world around him as Cyclonis stared at him, fear filling his thoughts. He didn't notice in the least as Dark Ace came up behind him, delivering a hard blow to the back of his head which knocked him out, his unconscious body collapsed onto the floor.

"You should be more careful." Dark Ace said respectfully to Cyclonis. "What if he had stabbed you?" Dark Ace reached down and plucked the sword from Stryker's grip, giving it a disapproving look.

Cyclonis looked down at Stryker's unconscious body. "Nothing was going to happen." Cyclonis said in a flat voice, still carrying it's dark echo. "In the end Stryker is neither a hero or a villain, he's just a cowardly fool."

"No reason to let him live then." Dark Ace said as he raised Stryker's sword, preparing to stab down into Stryker's back. "Right through the heart. I'd say that's poetic justice."

"No!" Aerrow yelled as he moved forward from where had taken cover. He swung Dark Ace's sword, sending a bolt of energy at Dark Ace.

Dark Ace quickly dodged the blast, bringing the sword in his hand around to guard as Aerrow charged forward, the two blades sparking as they met.

"That doesn't belong to you." Dark Ace said with a sneer as he stared Aerrow in the eyes between the glow of the to swords.

"Sorry." Aerrow said with a grunt as he continued to push against Dark Ace. "But sometimes you have to use whatever bits of trash you find in a fight."

Dark Ace roared as he pushed back against Aerrow, pushing him back a few feet. He quickly slashed down again, energy sparking as both blades collided again.

Cyclonis watched the exchange of blade strikes between the two, annoyance rising in her as she felt she was being ignored. She raised her hand, ready to unleash a torrent of energy at Aerrow. But before she could even will a spark to her palm, something struck the side of her head. She raised her hand to rub the side of her head where she had felt the hit, looking down at what had hit her. On the floor she could see a crossbow. She looked up on the direction of where it had been thrown from.

Finn had his head poked around from behind the cover, now in full view of Cyclonis. He let out a small shriek as he once again took cover behind the piece of wall. Rdaar looked up at him, a questioning look on his face.

"Sorry buddy." Finn said in a panicked voice as he looked at Radaar. "I think she saw me."

A hand of energy reached around the broken piece of wall, plucking it from where it sat and throwing it across the room. Finn was still crouched on he ground, he looked over his shoulder to see Cyclonis sanding only a couple yards from him.

"Um." Finn began in a shaky voice. "Don't suppose there's any chance that I could charm my way out of this."

Cyclonis raised her hand spaks of black energy beginning to dance between her finger. "Not really."

"Cyclonis!" Piper yelled as she stepped from her own cover behind Cyclonis. "Leave him alone."

Stork was still crouched behind cover looking at Piper. "Piper, what are you doing?" Stork whispered in a nervous voice.

"The only thing I can do." She said softly as she moved towards Cyclonis. She raised her voice now as she spoke. "I'm a much better challenge than Finn. Unless your afraid I'll beat you again."

Aerrow, still busy keeping pace with Dark Ace's strikes, noticed Piper's sudden emergence. "Piper! Don't do anything stupid!" He yeled as he raised his sword to guard as Dark Ace brought a heavy strike down at Aerrow.

Cyclonis turned to look at Piper. "_Tsk tsk tsk. _Silly little Piper thinks she can stop me." Cyclonis said with a small laugh. "You, above all others here, should know just how silly that idea is. You know what kind of power flows through me. Do you really think you can stop me?" She finshed with a dark grin as she stared with her dark eyes at Piper.

"It's not about power Cyclonis." Piper said as she readied herself to move, gripping her staff tightly in her hands. "It's about knowing where to aim."

Cyclonis raised her hands and unleashed several bolts of energy at Piper. Piper moved with all the energy she could muster as she moved back and forth between the arcs of energy, moving forward at Cyclonis as she did. With a quick leap, Piper quickly closed the distance between herself and Cyclonis, tackling her to the ground. She raised her staff and brought the end down into Cyclonis's exposed connector plate.

Cyclonis looked down at where Piper's staff connected as she lay on her back. "That's it?" She said in a mocking tone. "Did you think a small jab like that would bring me down?"

"It's like you said, Cyclonis." Piper said in a sad tone. "I know exactly what kind of energy is flowing through you." Piper quickly reached behind her and pulled out a crystal and slammed it into the crystal mounting on her staff and activated the trigger.

Cyclonis suddenly felt strange. Instead of energy coming in, it felt as if it were being pulled out of her. She franticly looked at the crstal that Piper had placed into her staff, recognizing it immediately.

"A leecher!" She yelled as she shoved Piper off of her, trying frantically to pull the staff out of her chest. No matter how she tried though, she couldn't pull it free. "Dark Ace! Help me!"

Dark Ace quickly turned to see what was happening, horror spread across his face. "What have you done!?" He began to move to assisst Cyclonis, but Aerrow moved into his path. "Move out of my way boy!"

"No!" Aerrow said defiantly. "This ends now!" He yelled as he lunged his sword forward.

Dark Ace parried Aerrow's lunge to the side, trying to move past the teen. Aerrow quickly kicked out with his foot and hooked it around Dark Ace's leg, causing him to trip. He sprawled forward, hitting the ground hard. Stryker's sword slipped from his grasp and skidded across the floor. He tried to bring himself back to his feet, only to feel Aerrow place his foot on his back, pushing him back to the floor. He felt his own sword being brought close to his neck.

"Your not going anywhere." Aerrow said with a pant as he caught his breath.

Cyclonis tugged fruitlessly at the staff in her chest. She felt her strength leave her limbs, causing them to flop uselessly to her sides. Her eyes lost their dark glow and had now returned to their original color, her skin was becoming more pale.

She looked at Piper, standing over her, with pleading eyes. "I don't want to die again."

Piper had tears forming in her eyes as she looked down at Cyclonis. "None of the people you killed to extend your life wanted to die either."

Cyclonis breaths were becoming more shallow now. She looked up at the leecher crystal, shining bright from all the energy it had absorbed. She closed her eyes and felt as if the last of herself was being pulled into a small space, and then...nothing.

"_NOOOOOOOOO!" _Dark Ace yelled from where he was on the floor. With a strong amount of effort, he pushed up against Aerrow, knocking the sky knight from his feet. He quickly rushed to his master's side, pulling the staff from her chest with a strong tug. The energy being transferred between had practically fused the metal of the staff to the connector plate. He cradled her lifeless form in his arms.

"Master?" He asked in a tearful tone as he pulled her close, resting his forehead against hers.

A sharp whine began to erupt from the crystal on Piper's staff.

Finn moved close and picked the staff off the ground. "Um, if I remember right from the last time we dealt with these things, that whine means it's about to explode, right?"

Piper quickly snatched her staff out of Finn's hands. She tried to pry the crystal from her staff, but it wouldn't budge. "It's not coming off."

"We'll have to get rid of the staff too then." Aerrow said with determination.

"But.." Piper began to protest, she wasn't keen on the idea of losing her favorite staff.

"No time." Aerrow said as he moved forward, taking the staff from Piper. He moved to the open balcony and prepared to the throw the the leecher, it's whine reaching a higher pitch.

"Wait!" Pier said, running up to Aerrow. "The force of the explosion is gonna be big. We need it out further or everyone close by could be caught in it."

Aerrow eyed Stryker's skyride, realizing what needed to be done. He moved to mount up on the bike, activating the engine.

"Dude!" Finn yelled. "What are you doing!?"

"I'm gonna take this up as high in the sky as I can." Aerrow said with a determined voice. "That way no one will be caught in the explosion."

Finn gave his leader a worried look. "That's a one way trip bro. We still need you here." Finn walked up and snatched the staff from Aerrow. "I'll go."

"There's no time for this Finn!" Aerrow said in frustration.

"Your right." Another voice said. "There is no time left at all."

A hand reached out and took the staff from both Aerrow and Finn, a foot slammed into Aerrow, knocking him from the skyride.

Aerrow fell to the floor and rolled onto his back, looking up to another figure mounting the bike. Light shined off the man's bald head.

"Stryker?" Aerrow said in disbelief.

"Protect Atmos, Aerrow." Stryyker said in a strained voice. "Do a better job than I did." He reved the engine then took off, deploying the wings as he cleared the balcony. He cranked the engine to it's maximum output as he pulled straight up, looking up into the expanding sky as his final destination.

_**........**_

Stryker's thoughts flew by quickly as he tried to think of something other than the crystal increaingly high pitched whine as he moved higher into the sky.

Stryker had regained some consciousness as he laid on the floor and had seen Aerrow fighting Dark Ace with all his strength. Finn throwing his crossbow at Cyclonis. And,finally, Piper finishing off Cyclonis. It was in these moments he had time to think about what he had become, remembering all he had done to try and destroy the Storm Hawks and how they still fought against such incredible odds and still came out victorious. All he had done was grow jealous and prideful. He had almost sacrificed the lives of loyal Sky Knights to further his own gains. He was left with one truth. They were truly living up to the their name as Storm Hawks, and he was their enemy.

But not anymore.

One last chance to prove he could be a hero. One last sacrifice.

He closed his eyes and listened as the whine of the crystal stopped. He felt the air around him become still. And then...nothing.

_**........**_

The Storm Hawks stood in a group, watching Stryker speed up and away into the far up sky. Then the sky became full with a giant explosion as darkness spilled out everywhere in a giant shock wave, clearing open a large portion of sky as it scattered the clouds.

"Woh." Finn said in a dazed voice. "It's almost pretty."

"It hard to believe." Piper said as she watched the shock wave dissipate. "All that energy was inside one person."

"So." Finn said as looked away from the sky to look at Aerrow. "Why do you think Stryker did that?"

"It's hard to say why now that he's gone." Aerrow said as he still stared at the last point where he had seen Stryker. "Maybe he finally remembered why he became a sky night in the first place. But he knew he couldn't go back, not after everything he had done."

Piper looked away from the explosion, back toward where Cyclonis was still being held by Dark Ace. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head to see Stork standing next to her.

"You didn't have a choice." Stork said in a comforting tone. "She was determined to destroy us and everyone else."

"Yeah." Piper replied in a sad tone. "But I can still see her eyes begging me to spare her."

Looking at Cyclonis, Piper began to notice small cracks appearing on her face. She stepped closer to where Dark Ace still held her. The cracks continued to spread across her face, and she could make out faint lines spreading to her hands as well. Suddenly, Cyclonis body began to collapse, pieces broke off to becomes piles of dust on the floor. After a few moments, all that remained of Cyclonis were her clothes and a few bits of dust that hadn't blown away in the strong Cyclonian winds.

Aerrow stood next to Piper now, staring down at where Cyclonis once was. "What happened?"

"The only thing holding her together was the borrowed energy she had in her body." Piper said as she looked at Dark Ace, who remained silent. "Without that energy holding her cells together, time is just catching up with her."

Dark Ace reached into Cyclonis's now empty clothes and removed a black and lumpy crystal. The shape and size sparked a memory in Piper that went back to their first meeting with Stryker only a few days before.

"Cyclonis's heart." Piper said simply as she stared at the black crystal.

"The surge of power must burned it or something." Aerrow said, remarking at the crystal's dark color.

"No." Piper said, her voice still carried some of the guilt she felt. "I think it's always been that dark"

* * *

Things are coming to a close. One brief epilogue shall be out in a bit to wrap up the final details. But does it all end here? Please be sure to review.


	23. Ch22 Epilogue

Here it is, the epilogue to my first fanfic. Started so long ago and now it's finished. I hope all of you who have read this, enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. See you at the bottom.

* * *

Heart of Darkness...Epilogue

Official document of The Sky Council summarizing events and status of events following Stryker's Folly:

It has been three months since the conflict that has been come to be known as Stryker's Folly. What is reported here is a brief summary and status report of persons and items of interest.

Current status of Dark Ace and other Cyclonian Forces:

Shortly after the explosion in the sky that day, most of the Cyclonian ships surrendered, a few fled. When asked why, most of the commanders in charge of their ships simply said that they just knew that Cyclonis was dead, and that their was no longer a reason to fight. The whole of the Cyclonian forces captured that day are currently being held on an isolated terra, as a penal colony, while the Sky Council determines what the fate of such a large number of people should be.

Dark Ace was arrested and brought before the Sky Council to stand trial for the multitude of crimes he had committed while working under Cyclonis. There was no resistance from him. He has yet to speak with anyone about either confessing to his crimes, denying them, or for anything at all. He has been confined to a maximum security cell while he awaits final sentencing from the Sky Council.

The few remaining Cyclonian ships that fled, as well as the senior commanders Ravess and Snipe, have yet to be found. It is unknown how much danger there remains while these forces roam free. Though there is doubt they have the resources to cause any further trouble. As a security measure, patrols have been doubled in the outer regions until further notice.

Dr. Heron also remains unaccounted for.

Status of items obtained from Cyconian Citadel:

The heart of Cyclonis, as well as other property seized during investigations into the citadel, is being stored for future study by the researchers on Terra Atmosia and various other terras throughout the free territories of devices have been scheduled for immediate destruction having been found to be of no use to advancing society, more likely meant to destroy it.

The _"reactors,"_ as they have been called, were put to a humane death. No means were available to free them of their fate, nor is it certain they would survive outside of their containment units. That is, of course, if they even retained any mental capability at all to even still be classified as _alive._

Status of the Atmosian Guard:

Sky General Stryker has been officially declared deceased from the events that occurred at Stryker's Folly, a body has yet to be recovered. But, due to the extensive force of explosion that Stryker was at the center of, it is unlikely a corpse will be recovered.

The remainder of the Atmosian Guard have been exiled to the far reaches of the free terras. Their level of involvement in Stryker's plans are different from case to case, but it was seen as best to treat the group as a whole and banish them to the outer terras. Their exile may be revoked in future years, depending on their behavior.

Current status of Storm Hawks:

The Storm Hawks were recovered by Harrier and the Rex Guardians and brought home to a hero's welcome on Terra Atmosia. The remains of their carrier, the Condor, were loaded and hauled by several ships back to Terra Atmosia to be put back together once more. It would have been left to rust if were not for the insistent urgings of it's crew, and with heavy threats from the team's pilot, most of which were reported to be..._unpleasant._

They are currently enjoying a period of rest and relaxation until such time as their carrier, The Condor, is repaired.

End report.

**_........_**

It was late at night and Stork was in his room, trying to get to know it. His room was one of the areas of the ship that had become a twisted pile of scrap in the crash, making it necessary for the entire room to be rebuilt. He was busying himself with making notes on a clipboard on where to install secret compartments at a later date. He grimaced when he thought about the various traps and devices that he would have to reinstall and calibrate throughout the carrier. But, at the same time, he also looked forward to it. He grinned when he thought of all the possibilities. As Stork let his mind wander, he suddenly had another thought enter his brain that made him smile.

Piper.

In between getting The Condor working again and recovering from his injuries, Stork hadn't really had an opportunity to talk with Piper again. He had almost died so many times at the battle, it made him realize just how quickly his life could end. No matter how many preparations or traps he set up, sometimes it's just not enough. And he didn't want to have any regrets.

He set down his clipboard and began to think it over. _The Condor is repaired and running better than ever, only a few minor adjustments and repairs left. My ribs are healed... _He gave himself a quick poke in his side, a slight grimaced crossed his face as a small jolt of discomfort shot from his ribs. _Well, mostly healed anyway._

He moved to the door of his room, taking a deep breath as he stepped into the hallway. He slowly breathed out, talking to himself under his breath as he did. "Yep, now's as good a time as any."

**_........_**

Piper was in her lab, also trying to arrange everything back to how it was before the crash. She frowned as she opened a storage locker and found that several of the tools inside were broken. She closed the lid with a sigh and pushed it to the side. The list of things she had to replace only seemed to get longer.

She heard a knock on her door, which she had left open, and turned to see a familiar male figure standing in her door frame.

"Hey Aerrow." She said casually as she turned back to check the contents of another crate.

"Hey." He said as he walked into the room. "What're you up to?"

"Nothing really." She said as she opened the crate in front of her. "Just checking to see if everything I own was completely destroyed, mostly destroyed, or just a little broken." She said with a small laugh. "It's bad enough that I don't have my staff anymore."

"Ya, but at least you got a new one on the same day." He said as he pointed to a rather menacing looking staff that was leaning in the corner of the room. "It's not like Cyclonis needed it anymore."

"Don't remind me." Piper said with a cold tone, the memory of Cyclonis's dying face surfaced in her memory.

"Sorry." Aerrow said nervously. "A lot of things happened on that day that none of us will be forgetting any time soon."

"Ya." Piper said as she crossed her arms, thinking back on the events that they had all barely managed to live through. "Alot of blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice."

"Sacrifice..." Aerrow said with a hint of disgust for the word. "Stryker really believed that sacrificing people, or yourself, is the only way to solve anything. And the scary thing is that Stryker wasn't always like that"

"What do you mean?" Piper said as she looked at Aerrow with a concerned look.

Aerrow moved across the room to lean against the wall, his face taking on a serious look. "While we've been waiting for The Condor to be repaired, I went to go look at Styker's personal files. When he first got started as a sky knight, he just wanted to protect the Atmos. When he was young, he actually wanted to be a Storm Hawk."

"A lot of kids wanted to be Storm Hawks." Piper said as she moved close to Aerrow, putting a hand on his shoulder. "They were the best team ever, they still are."

"Yeah, but Stryker was a lot like us." Aerrow said as he frowned. "But, somehow, the world changed him. Made him the man that almost got us killed. I'm just afraid we might become like that."

"Is that what has you so stressed?" Piper said with a concerned voice. "That you might end up like Stryker?"

Aerrow replied with a simple nod.

Piper let a smile cross her face. "Then there's nothing to worry about."

"How so?" Aerrow said as he gave Piper a confused look.

"C'mon Aerrow." Piper said as she put her hands on her hips and gave Aerrow a bright smile. "I've known you long enough to know that you'd never end up like Stryker. Besides, you have plenty of friends here to beat sense into you if you ever even started to act like that."

Aerrow smiled as she stood up from the wall. "Thanks Piper."

"No problem." She extended her arms and brought Aerrow in for a hug.

Aerrow returned the hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you." He said as he started to pull away, his hands resting on her hips.

Piper let her hands rest on Aerrow's shoulders as she smiled at him. "None of you do." She said with a laugh. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another figure standing in the doorway. "Oh, hey Stork." She said as she turned away from Aerrow to face Stork, both of their hands going to their sides. "What's up?"

Stork had nervous look on his face. "Um, nothing." He said in a shaky voice. "I was just...I had...some questions...but...never mind..." He moved away from the doorway, moving towards the bridge.

Aerrow gave Piper a concerned look. "Is he okay?"

Piper stared at the door that Stork had just been standing in. "He's probably tired." She said in a concerned voice. "I'll talk to him in the morning."

"Yeah, it's pretty late." Aerrow said, immediately yawning after he spoke. He moved towards the doorway, he turned to look back at Piper before he stepped through the doorway. "Guess I'll go turn in. See ya in the morning."

"Goodnight Aerrow." She said as Aerrow moved from the doorway. Her thoughts moved back to Stork's odd behavior just moments before. _I hope he's alright. _She let out a small yawn. _Guess I better go to bed too._ She began to move to her room, ready for a good night's sleep.

**_........_**

Stork was on the bridge of The Condor, moving towards the steering controls. He firmly grasped the controls, hoping the familiar feel of The Condor's controls could help to mellow him. He was feeling a surge of emotions flooding through him after what he had seen.

He had been just walking up to Piper's door just in time to see her and Aerrow embracing each other. He gripped the handles of the steering controls harder as he recalled the memory of what he had witnessed only moments ago. He felt waves of different emotions washing over him, making it hard to concentrate on anything around him. One thing was certain, he wasn't going to be able to sleep tonight.

**_........_**

On a remote terra, barren and dusty, the sun shined brightly as a small ship came up to dock. The side of the ship opened, revealing a lone figure. He walked out of the ship, onto the dusty terra. He looked around, thankful that his shaded goggles blocked out the harsh sunlight. He reached into one of the many pockets of his long grey coat and pulled out a small device. He pressed a button on the device, a small chirp coming out as he did. A sudden rumbling came from the ground at his feet. It began to rise in a rectangular shape from the ground revealing a space underneath the panel. There was a small set of stairs that led to a a thick metal door at the base of the stairs.

Heron smiled as he looked down into the open space. "It's a good thing I had the foresight to set up an off-site lab." He said with a devilish grin. He looked back at the ship as another figure appeared in the hatchway. "It's a good thing for you too."

* * *

Wow, such a wide open ending. I don't even know what I was thinking when I wrote this. It needs something...something...What's that word? Starts with an "S." Used for when you have stuff that comes after a story, so much stuff it's like another story. Hmmmm... While I figure out what it is, you can leave a review. Later. ;-)


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